One in six Mediterranean mammal species is under threat of becoming extinct in the region, an assessment by conservationists warned yesterday.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the vast majority of the 49 species at risk are finding it hard to survive because of destruction of their habitat.

Of the threatened mammals, 20 species are only found in the Mediterranean, making attempts to protect them a matter of the survival of the whole species.

The Iberian lynx, found only in Spain and possibly Portugal, is among the nine species which are critically endangered - along with African wild dogs, the Mediterranean monk seal and the European mink.

A further 15 species are endangered, of which seven - including the western gerbil and the Barbary macaque - are only found in the Mediterranean.

Across the region, which stretches from France to Jordan and includes North Africa, southern Europe and the Balkans, more than a quarter (27 per cent) of mammals are suffering declines in populations, while the fortunes of two fifths are unknown.

Rodents, bats, shrews, hedgehogs and moles are all are finding it increasingly hard to survive due to loss of habitat as a result of agriculture, pollution, climate change and the spread of towns and cities.

Big mammals such as deer and carnivores, along with rabbits and hares, are particularly threatened, and eight species have already gone extinct in the region.

Helen Temple, co-author of the study, said: "To ensure the survival of large herbivore and carnivore mammals in the Mediterranean we have to restore habitats and food chains.

"We need to encourage people to accept large predators, improve protected areas management and better enforce laws regarding hunting practices."

With mammal diversity greatest in mountainous parts of the Mediterranean region, particularly high concentrations of threatened species are found in the mountains of Turkey, north west Africa and the Levant (Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Syria).

Just three per cent of the 320 mammals assessed are on the increase - often due to conservation work, according to the IUCN.

Co-author of the study, Annabelle Cuttelod, said: "The number one threat is habitat destruction, which affects 90 per cent of the threatened species. We need international action to protect key areas and preserve natural habitats to ensure we don't lose the rich biodiversity in this area."