Bhubaneswar, Aug. 5 -- A tiny succulent that resembles a small pebble is on the brink of extinction in Namibia, with conservationists warning that fewer than 200 plants now survive in the wild. Known as Lithops werneri, the species is found only within a roughly four-square-kilometre patch of the Erongo Mountains, making it one of the world's most geographically restricted plants.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) added the species to its Critically Endangered list earlier this year after documenting an alarming population decline of more than 80 per cent since 1981. Surveys that recorded over 650 plants in 2012 found only 118 in 2019 and 163 a year later.

Experts say the succulent has always had an extremely lim...