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For Immediate Release, July 11, 2012

Contact: Kierán Suckling, (520) 275-5960

Endangered Species Condoms Part of World Population Day Events

TUCSON, Ariz.— The Center for Biological Diversity is distributing free Endangered Species Condoms today as part of World Population Day, where groups around the globe hold events aimed at drawing attention to the growing human population and its effect on the planet. The Center’s 7 Billion and Counting population campaign focuses on the acceleration of extinction rates among plants and animals as the world’s human population grows.

“Runaway population growth — and the overconsumption of natural resources it drives — is at the root of environmental problems around the world, including the catastrophic loss of species,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center.

As part of its full-time population campaign, started in 2009, the Center has so far given out 450,000 free Endangered Species Condoms featuring polar bears, panthers and other species threatened by overpopulation. The wildly popular condoms, distributed by thousands of volunteers around the country, have proven to be novel conversation-starters about an issue that’s often viewed as socially taboo. The Center is providing condoms to several population events for World Population Day, including one in Moab, Utah and another in Kansas City.

“The population problem is devastating to endangered species — from poorly planned development that’s gobbling up the last piece of habitat for Florida panthers to Las Vegas growth sucking up river water that’s desperately needed to sustain a last few endangered spikedace fish,” said Suckling. “And there are simple, common-sense solutions — such as access to affordable family planning for women around the world.”

The world’s human population has doubled since 1970, reaching 7 billion in 2011. According to the latest research, it could exceed 9 billion by 2050. Meanwhile, there are an estimated 200 million women who want access to birth control and other family-planning services but don’t have it.

The Center is the only environmental group with a full-time campaign highlighting the connection between unsustainable human population growth and the ongoing extinction crisis for plants and animals around the world. In 2011 the Center released a report on the top 10 U.S. species threatened by population growth.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 375,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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