Almost a quarter of freshwater animals, including crabs, crayfish, shrimp, damselfly and fish, are threatened of going extinct, according to a new, global study that was published on

A quarter of freshwater animals, including fish, insects and crustaceans, are at high risk of extinction due to threats including pollution, dams and farming, according to a new study published on Wednesday.

The largest global assessment of freshwater animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ to date has revealed that 24% of the world’s freshwater fish, dragonfly, damselfly, crab, crayfish and shrimp species are at high risk of extinction,

A lack of understanding can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction. As the authors of the new study point out, freshwaters support more than 10% of all known species, including about a third of vertebrates and half of fishes, while covering less than 1% of the surface of the Earth.

Almost a quarter of all the world's freshwater animals are threatened with extinction. That's according to a new report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Over 80 scientists across the world participated in the assessment of over 23,

Researchers assessed the status of 23,496 species of freshwater animals in groups including fishes, crustaceans such as crabs, crayfish and shrimp and insects such as dragonflies and damselflies, finding 24% of them at a high risk of extinction.