World's Endangered Species Tops 12,000

"In total, 12,259 species--characterized as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable -- had the misfortune of making the list. What is more, 762 plant and animal species are recorded as already having gone extinct and 58 remain in existence only in cultivation or captivity... The number of threatened species is increasing, in part, because the number of known species that scientists know about has also gone up."