Animals that recently became extinct - or very nearly

Is extinction due to man’s interference or is it just a case of the survival of the fittest? Was it eat or be eaten, or are we humans to blame?

One thing we do know - it’s possible that species extinction is happening at a faster rate because of humans. Environmental factors or evolutionary problems cause a species to die out, and extinctions are ongoing. Changes to habitats and poor reproduction are among factors that can make a species’ death rate higher than its birth rate for long enough that eventually, none are left.

Humans have caused some species to become extinct by hunting, introducing invasive species to the wild, polluting, and by ruining natural habitats.

Below are a few species that are either extinct already or will be soon. You might say, so what, I never heard of them anyway, but many other species will continue to diminish unless we start to preserve what we have, to keep the balance of nature going.

Northern White Rhinoceros

These rhinos are now extinct in the wild, and the outlook isn’t hopeful. The last two living are both females, and these precious girls are in captivity and under armed guard at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. In 2018, when the last male died there, scientists deemed them extinct, and these two females may be the last living members of an extinct species that you will ever see. Attempts to impregnate them with sperm from other white rhino subspecies have been unsuccessful, although zoologists continue to try other techniques, including stem cell technology.

Northern white rhinos were poached to extinction for their horns, for use in traditional Chinese medicine despite no proven evidence to confirm any benefits, and just to make things worse, rhinos are still being poached even on animal reserves.

Western Black Rhinoceros

This rhino was deemed extinct by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) in 2011, with the last western black rhino being sighted in 2006, and none are known to be held in captivity. These too have been poached to extinction by illegal animal traffickers for their horns, erroneously believed to have medicinal effects.

Splendid Poison Frog

The IUCN in 2020 declared that the Splendid Poison Frog (don’t you just love the name?) was extinct. This small red frog is one of the most recently extinct animals on the planet, sadly caused by a fungal outbreak in 1996.

Spix’s Macaw

In Brazil, the Spix’s Macaw, known as the ‘Little Blue Macaw’, was declared extinct in the wild in 2019. Fortunately, experts have documented about 160 of them in captivity, and scientists and the Brazilian government are working on a planned release of the parrots to the wild. They were named for the German naturalist who documented them in 1819. Habitat destruction and illegal trapping and trade are the cause of their demise.

Baiji

This is a long-nosed dolphin also known as the Yangtze River Dolphin. The last documented sighting of one was in 2002, and even though Baiji Foundation scientists travelled up the Yangtze River to seek them out in 2006, none were found, and the Foundation’s report stated they were functionally extinct. This is the first dolphin species said to have been driven to extinction by humans, due to dams, overfishing, and poor water management.

Pyrenean Ibex

The Pyrenean ibex was declared extinct in 2000. During medieval times, the Pyrenean ibex was abundant, but their population has decreased due to hunting. More recently, the ibex’s numbers dwindled as a result of disease and the inability to compete with other livestock for sparse food, and in 2003, scientists announced that the first attempt to clone the Pyrenean Ibex had failed.

Passenger Pigeon

Although the passenger pigeon became extinct over a century ago, ecologists estimate they numbered in the millions when Europeans began settling in North America. They vanished after farmers cleared their habitat and hunters netted, shot and poisoned them to the point of extinction, with the last known bird dying in Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.

Who knows – will ‘de-extinction’ be a scientific achievement in the future?

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan