[annmarie]

love the post very interesting

[PitBullSchutzhund]

It's a shame these animals went extinct, mostly due to our human ways. I for one would have loved to see the Tasmanian Tiger alive. But they were hunted to extinction, then later also became extinct in zoos.

The Tasmanian Tiger

Though commonly called the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, the Thylacine was neither canine nor feline.

This was the last living tasmanian tiger, also called the Thylacine. He died of neglect in 1936 in a zoo when the keepers locked him out of his shelter in freezing temperatures. Wow, talk about stupid.



Thylacines in 1906.



A thylacine eating a chicken.















How did these amazing animals go extinct?



The Tarpan

The last Tarpan died on a Ukrainian game preserve at Askania Nova in 1876. A prehistoric type of wild horse that once roamed from Southern France and Spain eastwards to central Russia, the Tarpan died out in the wild in the late 1800s. Reasons for its extinction include the destruction of its forest and steppe habitat to make room for that most selfish of all animals; hunting by farmers averse to their crops being eaten and mares stolen; and absorption into a growing domestic horse population. There have been various attempts to recreate the Tarpan through re-breeding, resulting in horses that do at least resemble their extinct forebears.

This was the last living Tarpan, a stallion. This is also the only known picture of a Tarpan.



The Quagga

Another extinct equine beast – this time a subspecies of zebra – the last wild Quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s, while the last specimen in captivity died in 1883 at Artis Magistra Zoo in Amsterdam. Once abundant in southern Africa, the Quagga fell victim to ruthless hunting for its meat and hide, and because it was seen by settlers as a competitor to livestock like sheep. It was the coat of the Quagga that distinguished it best, with only the front part of its body showing the zebra’s vivid striped markings. As with the Tarpan, projects to breed back the Quagga have produced favourable results, visually at least.

This was the last Quagga, a mare in a zoo.



Bali Tiger

Hunted to extinction in the 1930s



The Javan Tiger

The Javan Tiger was a subspecies of tiger found only on the Indonesian island of Java, until it died out as recently as the 1980s. In the early 19th century, the Javan Tiger was common all over the island, but rapid human population increase led to the destruction of its forest habitat. The Javan Tiger was also mercilessly hunted, so that by the 1950s it is thought fewer than 25 remained in the wild. Following in the tracks of the Bali Tiger, which was wiped out in the 1930s, the fate of the Javan Tiger speaks for the precarious position of the tiger species as a whole. Sightings of the subspecies persist but hopes for its survival are fading.



Two captive Javan tigers.



The Caspian Tiger

Another tiger to vanish in the last century was the Caspian Tiger, the last confirmed reports of which date back to before the 1950s. Recent research suggests the Caspian Tiger was largely identical to the Siberian Tiger, but even if not a distinct subspecies, it yet had its own range and habitat. Found in the sparse forest and river basin corridors of Central and Western Asian, this big cat succumbed to intense hunting by the Russian army, who were told to exterminate it during a huge land reclamation programme in the early 1900s. Farmers followed, clearing forestland, and the loss of the Caspian Tiger’s primary prey, the boar, spelled its demise.



The Syrian Wild Ass

The last member of this species died at Schönbrunn Zoo, Vienna in 1928. Formerly occupying the mountains, deserts and steppes between Palestine and Iraq, the Syrian Wild Ass disappeared from the Syrian desert during the 18th century, not helped by war between Palestine and Syria. It was eradicated in Northern Arabia during the 19th century, and then became most seriously threatened with World War I, when its remaining habitat was overrun with fighting forces. The rest is history. This smallest of all recent members of the horse family stood just over 3 feet high at the shoulder and was generally light in colour.



Bubal Hartebeest

The Bubal Hartebeest was a species of antelope that became extinct in 1923, when a captive female died in Jardin des Plantes in Paris. It was once found over much of North Africa, at least as far east as Egypt, where it was a mythological and sacrificial beast. However, by the 1900s its range was limited to Algeria and the Moroccan High Atlas mountains. Hunting throughout the 19th century drastically reduced the Bubal Hartebeest’s numbers, sealing its fate. A fawn-coloured animal that stood almost 4 feet at the shoulder, the Bubal Hartebeest was characterised by lyre-shaped horns that almost touched at the base. A beautiful beast, sadly missed.



Passenger Pigeon

The story of the Passenger Pigeon is one of the most tragic extinction stories in modern times. As recently as around 200 years ago they weren’t anywhere near extinction. In fact, they were actually the most common bird in North America, and some reports counted single flocks numbering in the billions.

During some migrations, the flocks flying overhead would stretch for over a mile and could take several hours to pass. It would have been impossible to imagine a North American skyline without them. Yet somehow the species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world to extinction in only about 100 years. What happened?

Colonial hunters happened. The pigeon meat was commercialized and recognized as cheap food, especially for slaves and the poor, which led to a catastrophic hunting campaign on a massive scale. Furthermore, due to the large size of their flocks, the birds were seen as a threat to farmers. In fact, in 1703 the Catholic bishop of Quebec actually excommunicated the entire species.

The last known Passenger Pigeon, named “Martha”, died in captivity on September 1st, 1914, in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1896, the last flock of 250,000 birds were slaughtered by hunters despite the knowledge that it was the last flock of that size left.





Golden Toad

The first recorded account of the Golden Toad was by herpetologist Jay Savage in 1966, and the last sighting of the species was made in 1989. The toad, showcased by its brilliant golden orange colorization, was native to the tropical cloud forests which surround Monteverde, Costa Rica.

Their extinction symbolizes a large scale decline in amphibian numbers worldwide over the last several decades, which has likely been caused by global warming and climate change. In fact, famed Australian biologist Tim Flannery has described the extinction of the Golden Toad to be the first demise of a species due primarily to global warming.



Caribbean Monk Seal

The Caribbean Monk Seal was the only known seal which was native to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is also the only species of seal to go extinct directly due to human causes. It was officially declared extinct just last year, on June 6th, 2008, although the last recorded account of the species was made at Serranilla Bank between Honduras and Jamaica in 1952.

Their eventual demise, brought on by human hunting, was symbolized during Columbus’ 1494 voyage, when the tiny seals were described as “sea wolves” and 8 were recorded to have been killed and slaughtered for their meat.



Pyrenean Ibex

The Pyrenean Ibex has one of the more interesting stories among extinct animals, since it was the first species to ever be brought back into existence via cloning, only to go extinct again just seven minutes after being born due to lung failure.

The last naturally born Pyrenean Ibex died on January 6th, 2000; it was found dead under a fallen tree at the age of 13. That animal’s only companion had died just a year earlier due to old age. Although the recent effort to resurrect the Ibex was short-lived, the event does bring optimism, and raise serious debate, about whether extinct creatures should be given a second chance.





Tecopa Pupfish

The Tecopa Pupfish has the unfortunate distinction of being the first species to be declared extinct under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The official de-listing of the animal came in 1981.

The fish were first discovered in the Tecopa Hot Springs in California in 1942, and their decline followed shortly thereafter, as the Hot Springs were canalized and replaced with bathhouses. The final nail in the coffin came when hotels and trailer parks were built nearby to allow for more comfortable recreation for tourists.



Baiji River Dolphin

The inevitable appears to have arrived for the Baiji River Dolphin, a peaceful, majestic dolphin which had inhabited China’s Yangtze River for at least the last 20 million years. The dolphin was declared functionally extinct after an expedition late in 2006 failed to record a single individual after an extensive search of the animal’s entire range.

Although unconfirmed sightings have come out since then, it’s unlikely that any living individuals, should they still exist, would be able find each other and breed. This tragic demise makes the Baiji Dolphin the first recorded extinction of a cetacean in modern times.

The population had been declining rapidly in recent decades since the rise of Chinese industrialization, which has utilized the Yangtze River as one of its primary arteries. The river is now one of the worst polluted major waterways in the world, being heavily relied upon for transportation and hydroelectricity. Roughly 12% of the world’s human population lives and works within the river’s catchment zone.

Traditional Chinese tales refer to the Baiji as a symbol of peace and prosperity. However, that traditional veneration was denounced during China’s “Great Leap Forward”, which called for hunting the animal in the name of redefining Chinese prosperity.

Regrettably, the Chinese may have got what they called for. Now that the dolphin is extinct, it’s difficult to avoid drowning the kind of prosperity it once symbolized along with it.



Animals barely hanging on.

Black Rhino

These big guys are perilously close to death. Some organizations are already classifying them as extinct because there are so few individuals remaining. No matter how many parks try to save them by placing strict consequences on poaching, they still continue finding dead rhinos with their horns cut off. Some people believe the horns possess medicinal properties. These giants probably won't be walking the Earth, at least not in the wild, by 2015.







A young rhino brutally killed just for her horns.



And another poached rhino.



Javan Rhinoceros

This is a rhino who's really about to join the extinct list. They are doing much worse than the black rhino. Sadly, there are less than 60 individuals in the wild.




A hunter with a Javan Rhino he killed in 1895, I believe. Man, does he look proud at driving this creature towards extinction.



Mekong Giant Catfish

This fish is prized for it's enormous size. There are only a few hundred remaining, yet still fishing goes on. This is one fish that most likely won't be here for long.







The Komodo Dragon

I find these creatures absolutely fascinating. They remind me so much of dinosaurs, which I'm very interested in. But sadly, illegal hunting and humans taking their habitat is killing them off.

[feedthezombies]

Noooo! not the golden toad :) but that was some really cool info, thxs pit.

[PitBullSchutzhund]

Your welcome, and thank you too. :)

I'll add more if I find any.

[EndOfTheLine]

Very interesting. Too bad people suck.

[Hadrian2]

Yeah, give it a couple decades and we can add polar bears to that list.

[Pigeon]

Passenger Pigeon

The passenger pigeon from North America was probably the most abundant bird in the world. It lived in enormous migratory flocks - sometimes containing more than two billion birds - that could stretch one mile (1.6 km) wide and 300 miles (500 km) long across the sky, sometimes taking several hours to pass.

Due almost entirely to rampant hunting, The species went from being one of the most numerous birds in the world during the 19th century to extinction early in the 20th century.

[PitBullSchutzhund]

Originally Posted by Hadrian ↗

Yeah, give it a couple decades and we can add polar bears to that list.

I won't be surprised. The black rhino is very close too. Some organizations are already classifying it as extinct. It sucks.

[EndOfTheLine]

Why would anyone hunt a pigeon?

[PitBullSchutzhund]

I really can't believe the idiots hunted the last flock of them, even knowing that was it!