This puts the mountain gorilla high on the endangered list, along with hundreds more. It is predicted that some of the great animals such the Sumatra tiger and South China tiger, pygmy chimpanzees and Mediterranean monk seals will disappear. Not that they will never be seen again. They will be, but only in zoos. They will never be seen wandering freely. For many of these refuges have basically become wildlife parks.
The animal most at risk of extinction is the panda. Also on the critical list are Spik's macaw - there is only one left in the world - the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, Delacours langur, snow leopard and the white rhino.
The wealth of a nation also has a bearing on the chances of survival of our endangered animals. The economic and social problems in the countries that have some of the earth's most precious animals are great. Increasingly, human populations are hungry. So when you ask: what is more important - human life or animal life? the answer is predictable.
These countries alone cannot solve their problems. For one reason or another they need international help and co-operation. In this new world order it is all about creating and building partnerships. Today we need the partnership of every nation on earth to sign up to save the planet.
The frightening part of this is that solutions are never instant. Nor are they simple, and often a greater amount of time is needed to reverse the decline than to provoke it. In some cases it might just be too late.
The rioting in Seattle a month ago during the World Trade Organisation conference has drawn our attention once again to these powerful institutions who are making the decisions that can have enormous impact on what these poorer countries have to make.
The problem is that the conservation institutions around today are too small and wield little influence in global politics, despite the great work they have been doing.
Most of these organisations were formed after the second World War. The IUCN, founded in 1946 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature, is important for monitoring and co-ordinating wildlife and conservation bodies, most of which are charities. They are responsible for what needs protection and how. In 1975, they set-up CITES, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, to co-ordinate the ban on animal trade throughout the world. It is all good stuff, but is this enough to stop the extinction of a species?
Can charities do the job completely? The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) was founded in 1961 by Sir Peter Scott. Initially the aim was to save endangered species such as the panda, which was to become its famous symbol.
Today it protects more than just threatened species. It tries to save threatened habitats and communities, too. But while charities are good, they are not enough. It does seem ridiculous that we rely mainly on charities to save the planet. It really requires the political will by all nations to tackle these problems.
The only way forward is for each nation to be collectively responsible for the whole planet. This can only be done by all countries signing a charter to save the planet. So how can that be achieved? Perhaps a global organisation set up by the UN which could respond quickly to environmental disasters. A sort of action group, not with guns blazing, but with a strategic policy of co-operating with the government to find solutions to environmental problems, where the country in question is totally involved in the decision made. Only by helping the smaller, weaker countries do we have any chance of solving the bigger problems that face us all.
It will require research and intelligence to work out just how much such endangered areas are really worth. They could be turned into places of economic importance. So not only could these valuable reserves be used for research, they could also be centres for eco-tourism, medicine, education, adventure, film and entertainment. All this can be done to make the task of conservation a much more positive experience.
Sometimes it looks like the human race has been given an extraordinary gift - to look after the globe. And just like a child at Christmas with a new ball, it will take years of hard practice and tough lessons to master the skills of the game and become a champion. I can't help feeling that we are still acting like children, playing carelessly with our only fragile globe. One silly mistake could mean the loss of our only chance of saving the planet.
Dr Bernard Walton, from Dublin, is a series producer at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, England. He is currently making a three-part series on primates called Cousins, presented by Charlotte Uhlenbroek for BBC1, due for transmission in autumn 2000