Scientists bid to save species on the edge

SCIENTISTS launched a bid yesterday to save some of the world’s rarest and most neglected creatures from extinction.

With an initial list of just 10 — including a venomous shrew-like creature, an egg-laying mammal and the world’s smallest bat — the programme will give last-ditch conservation aid where there has been little or none to date.

Zoological Society of London scientist Jonathan Baillie said: “We are focussing on EDGE species — that means they are Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered.