1. Chapter 5: Extinction and Depletion from Over-exploitation
Aurochs
One of the first examples of extinction caused by humans: A European member of the cattle family, the Aurochs, was a long-horned, forest-dwelling ancestor of modern domestic cattle. It was hunted for sport and food, and suffered from habitat loss.  Its last holdout was in a private game reserve in Poland, but poachers killed it off. The last one died in 1627.
Aurochs

2. “Recreated” Aurochs
Since the Aurochs was one of the ancestors of modern domestic cattle, most of its genes are probably still in existence, so biologists have tried to recreate it by crossing cattle from the Camargue, Corsica, Spain and Great Britain. Here is the result!
Produced by crossing cattle from the Camargue, Corsica, Spain and Great Britain.

3. Great Auk 3-foot tall, penguin-like, flightless North Atlantic
Hunted for feathers
Extinct 1844
Great Auk
Most penguin species live in the southern hemisphere but the Great Auk lived in the North Atlantic. It was a 3-foot tall penguin-like flightless seabird - a very fast underwater swimmer, but clumsy on land. They were very abundant (population in the hundreds of thousands) but were hunted between 1785 and 1844, mainly for their feathers which were used for mattress and pillow stuffing. The last breeding pair was killed by two fishermen, who also smashed the last egg.

4. Carolina parakeet Extinct in the wild 1904 Extinct 1918
North America’s only endemic parrot
Shot by farmers, collected for feathers
Carolina Parakeet
The Carolina Parakeet was the only endemic parrot of North America. Unfortunately, these birds fed in large flocks on fruit and other crops, and were shot in huge numbers by farmers.  They were also collected for their feathers and for sale to zoos.  The last pair survived in the Cincinnati zoo until
Extinct in the wild 1904
Extinct 1918

5. Passenger Pigeon – the most abundant bird?
The passenger pigeon was an attractive bird with a blue back and a pink breast that existed in huge populations. In fact, it may have been the most abundant bird ever to have lived. John James Audubon observed a flock of pigeons passing over a period of three days at a rate he estimated at over 300 million birds an hour. The passage of large flocks created a roar of wings that could be heard 6 miles away. The pigeons nested in long narrow colonies that could be 40 miles long and several miles across. They occurred throughout Eastern North America where they fed on acorns and beechnuts.
John James Audubon: a flock passed over for 3 days at ~ 300 million birds/hour.
Flocks could be heard 6 miles away.
Nesting colonies ~ 40 miles long, several miles across.
Occurred throughout Eastern North America
Fed on acorns and beechnuts.

6. Used for pigeon pie - Extinct in wild 1889 Extinct 1914
Early settlers in the United States developed a taste for passenger pigeon and commercial hunters devised many different ways of killing large numbers of the birds. They were suffocated by burning grass or sulfur below their roosts; fed grain soaked in alcohol; beaten down with long sticks, blasted with shotguns, caught in nets or trapped using a decoy pigeon.
By the 1880's the huge flocks were gone from the coastal states and were dwindling everywhere else. The last wild passenger pigeon was seen in Michigan in 1889 and the last captive bird ("Martha") died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
Used for pigeon pie -
Extinct in wild 1889
Extinct 1914

7. Steller's Sea Cow (Order Sirenia):
Discovered 1741
Used as food by sea-otter hunters
Extinct 1768
Sea Cow
This was a heavy, slow-swimming marine mammal related to the manatee and dugong (Sirenians), but much larger (25-30 feet long, weighing up to 3 tons). It was discovered in 1741 in the ocean around the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea (far north Pacific Ocean). It was used as food by visiting sea-otter hunters, and was extinct by 1768, only 27 years after its discovery.
Steller's Sea Cow (Order Sirenia):
Tail for swimming; arms for steering; NO hind legs

8. Living relatives of Steller’s Sea Cow:
Dugong: Endangered
Florida / West Indian manatee (2 subspecies) ~ 2000 surviving: Endangered
Amazonian manatee: Endangered
West African manatee: Threatened

9. Closest living relative of Sea Cow: Dugong
Numbers at Southern Great Barrier Reef
1960s
~50,000
1999
~4,000
The closest surviving relative of the sea cow, the much smaller dugong, is in serious trouble.  Dugongs are found in a huge area from the Red Sea to the Pacific Coast of Australia and the Solomon Islands.  They are so dispersed that accurate population counts have not been possible.  The population at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef was estimated at ~50,000 in the 1960's, but the number has fallen to about 4,000 since then, due to habitat loss, entanglement in fishing nets and nets used to protect swimming areas from sharks . The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has established a chain of dugong sanctuaries to try to protect the remaining animals.  Recent News items
(accidental kills in shark nets and fishing operations, and loss of sea grass food source due to damage by trawling)

10. Florida (West Indian) manatee
Another small relative of the sea cow that is endangered by human activities is the Manatee (West Indian or Florida Manatee), a slow-swimming, friendly marine mammal that feeds on sea grass and lives in the coastal waterways of Florida and in other coastal areas around the Caribbean.
Florida (West Indian) manatee

11. There are about 2,000 animals in the population, but at least 200 die each year, mainly from collisions with speedboats.
Propeller scars

12. 鯨魚生魚片?

13. Florida's response to this problem has been to post "go-slow" signs on the waterways, and to rely mainly on voluntary compliance. They have also established some very small sanctuaries.  These efforts are not working very well.

14. Mortality
The death rate has not declined; 2006 saw the largest number of deaths so far recorded, and boat-related deaths were the second highest recorded.  Save the Manatee Club is now filing lawsuits to try to get the government agencies to better enforce the laws protecting manatees. Read updates at MANATEE - Website For Manatee Watchers

15. Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act Marine Mammal Protection Act
*Protected by:
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna); Appendix I (= Endangered)
Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act
Marine Mammal Protection Act
U.S. Endangered Species Act
Florida Endangered Species Act

16. Federal status: Florida status: 12/5/07
Despite the manatee's precarious situation, Florida business interests and boating clubs are lobbying to get the mammal downlisted from Endangered to Threatened on both the Federal and State Endangered Species lists.  
Endangered: in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range
Threatened: may soon become endangered if its situation is not improved
Florida manatee no longer endangered?

17. The Fur Trade in Europe, Russia, Siberia and North America
Serial Depletion:
The Fur Trade in Europe, Russia, Siberia and North America
THE FUR TRADE
The hunting of animals for their hides (for leather) or fur played a very important part in the exploration and history of Europe, Asia and North America. It also led to a drastic reduction in the abundance of (though fortunately not the extinction of) many kinds of fur-bearing animals.
The Russian Fur Trade
The Fur Trade began in medieval times in Europe, when it involved the hunting of European animals to stock the wardrobes of the nobility and royalty. It involved mainly small animals such as squirrels, martens貂 , ermine貂的白毛皮 (=white phase of weasel黃鼠狼 ), sable黑貂 and foxes, and they were usually trapped alive so that their furs could be collected undamaged. Several hundred squirrel pelts were needed to make one cloak披風 , so the numbers killed were enormous. Eventually, by the early 16th century, the populations of fur-bearing animals in Western Europe were almost exhausted, and this led to the exploration of the northern forests of Russia and the development of an international trading system. This trade was a major driving force behind the Russian expansion into Siberia, and the fur trade became Russia's economic foundation. It is estimated that, at the height of the squirrel trade (14th-16th centuries), Novgorod (one of three main centers) was exporting half a million squirrel skins a year. The fur-bearing animals of the vast Siberian forests were virtually eliminated by the end of the 18th century.  In the 1920's the American mink was introduced into Europe because of its superior fur compared to the native European species. Now, at least in part because of this introduction, the European mink is the continent's most endangered mammal. An "Island retreat" has been established in the Baltic Sea to try to rescue this species from extinction.

18. Sea otter Morro Bay 12/05 Sea Otters
When the Russian traders had exhausted the terrestrial fur-bearing animals they turned their attention to sea otters
Morro Bay 12/05

19. Sea otters: discovered in 1741. Then 150,000 – 300,000
Sea otters were discovered in 1741 in the north Pacific, on the Russian and Alaskan coasts.  At that time, there were between 150,000 and 300,000 otters living along the north American coast from Alaska to Baja California.

20. Sea otter 1750-1790: 250,000 killed. “Commercial Extinction”
1911: total 1-2,000. Protected by Intl. Fur-Seal Treaty
1965 estimates:
Russia: 6,000
Alaska: 25,000
British Columbia: extirpated
Washington: extirpated
Oregon: extirpated
California: 600
From 1750 to 1790 most of the animals were killed by hunters, then they were too scarce to be worth hunting (they had reached "commercial extinction") and the trade collapsed. By 1911, when the otters received some protection through the International Fur Seal Treaty, there were only 1-2,000 animals left throughout their range. The population recovered well and the Alaskan (Aleutian Island) population reached a peak in the mid-1970s of about 50, ,000 animals. But from 1992 to 2000 it declined by 95% and now as few as 6,000 otters may remain in the entire Aleutian chain. 
Mexico: extirpated
1970’s estimate for Alaska:
50-100,000
Why the decline?
2000 estimate for Alaska:
6,000
2006 estimate for California:
2,692

21. Sea otter decline in the Aleutian Islands
Alaska
Aleutian Islands

22. Decline Continuing

23. Status of Sea Otter Stocks
Reintroduced in and 1970:
2005: (In response to lawsuit from Center for Biological Diversity) Southwest stock listed as Threatened
2006: Center for Biological Diversity sued to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate critical habitat
Southeast stock is increasing!

24. Marine Mammals in the North Pacific Ocean
Serial Depletion:
Marine Mammals in the North Pacific Ocean
The loss of sea otters was one step in a Serial Depletion of marine mammals in the north Pacific, starting with the Great Whales. After the whales were depleted by the whaling industry, killer whales switched to feeding on pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) then to sea otters.
Sequential Collapse

25. Ecosystem collapse: Aleutian Islands, 1977-2000
Climate change? Increased commercial fisheries? Pollution?
Decline in Steller sea lions and harbor seals (usual food of Killer whales)
Increased predation on sea otters by killer whales.
Population explosion (8x increase) of sea urchins (usual food of sea otters)
Depletion of kelp beds (food of sea urchins)
Depletion of king crabs, shrimp, smelt
Less food for seals and sea lions
This is just one part of a catastrophic ecosystem collapse that is occurring in the area.

26. California Sea Otter
Thought to have numbered 20,000 before exploitation
Thought to be extinct until about 300 discovered in 1938
Listed as Threatened since 1977
Slowly recovering: count: 3,026
Another population of about 3,000 sea otters survives along the California coast between Point Conception and San Francisco.  They are coming into increasing conflict with inshore fisheries for sea urchins.

27. The American Fur Trade Beaver fur The American Fur Trade
Partly because of the decline of the Russian fur bearing animals, from the earliest days of European settlement in North America, the fur trade has been one of the main incentives for westward expansion. For a long time, the colonists simply traded their goods for furs that the Native Americans collected. Later the Europeans became trappers as well as traders.
The strategy of the trappers in North America was similar to what had been responsible for depletion of these animals in Europe and Russia - they would exploit an area until the animals were so scarce that it was no longer profitable to hunt them, then they would move on to other areas and repeat the cycle.
Beaver fur

28. (Commercial Extinction)
One of the favorite targets of the trappers in North America was the beaver, the largest of the North American rodents. It was once extremely abundant throughout most of the continent but went into decline as early as 1638, mainly because the great insulating qualities of beaver fur made it the best material for hat manufacture. Beaver-fur hats were fashionable until the early nineteenth century, and the hunting pressure during this time virtually wiped out the species east of the Mississippi.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the fur trade in North America moved on to its last frontier, west of the Mississippi. In 1805 when the first explorers (Lewis and Clark) crossed the Rocky Mountains and continued on to the Pacific coast they reported that the area was "richer in beaver and otter than any other country on earth". The fur trappers were close behind the explorers, and in less than 40 years they had virtually cleared the area of both beaver and otter. By 1840 the beaver had been overexploited to the level where it was no longer worth hunting. The trappers had nowhere else to go, but they could switch to less desirable species. For a few years the trade was sustained by muskrat and marten furs, but these were also soon depleted.
American Beaver
– largest North American rodent (European beaver a distinct species) Hunted until 1840 for fur, mainly for hats – then no longer abundant enough to hunt
(Commercial Extinction)

29. Beavers have been protected in the 20th century and are now doing quite well on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. Their population is estimated at million. Status = not protected.
Now the beavers are often considered pests because they dam up creeks and cause flooding that leads to property damage. Oregon's beaver population causes about $250,000 in damage to roads, crops and businesses each year; the population is controlled mainly by professional trappers who catch about 5,000 beavers a year. In New York State bills have recently been introduced that would legalize underwater traps that kill beavers by drowning.
Protected in 20th century – now million; trapped to reduce population!

30. The American Fur Trade Hudson’s Bay Company: 1608-1840
Hunted mainly for export:
Beaver
Deer
Lynx
Weasel Family:
Short-tailed weasel (white "ermine" phase)
Otter, Mink, Pine marten, Fisher, Wolverine
Not only beaver, but many other wildlife species in this country were almost eliminated by the fur trade. The Hudson's Bay Company was responsible for promoting the hunting of hundreds of thousands fur-bearing animals every year in North America, and exporting the hides and furs to Europe. The most valuable were the various members of the weasel family including the short-tailed weasel in its white or "ermine貂皮 " phase, the otter, mink, pine marten, fisher, and wolverine. Of these animals, only weasels, otters and mink remain widespread, and the weasel is the only one that is still abundant. These animals were reduced initially by the fur trade, but most of them have also suffered from reduction in their forest habitat.

31. The Pinnipeds (Seals and Sea Lions): 33 living species
Sea Lion and Fur Seal (Otariidae): External ears; hind flippers used for walking
True Seals (Phocidae): No external ears; hind flippers not used for walking

32. Fur Seals Northern Fur Seal Harem
Fur seals.  The loss of furs from other sources was a major incentive leading to massive hunts for various types of seal. The animals were usually clubbed to death when they came ashore to breed.

33. Serial Depletion of fur seals in the Southern Hemisphere, 1780-1820
: Tristan da Cunha
: Falkland Islands
: Tierra del Fuego
: Mas Afuera
(Juan Fernandez Islands)
: South Georgia
?: South Shetland Islands
Fur seals were hunted by serial depletion: the discovery of large populations of target species, the development of intensive hunting leading to extermination or depletion, the move to a new area.
The first phase ( ) was directed at the southern fur seal in many areas of the southern hemisphere and was carried out by sealers from Europe, Russia, Canada and the U.S. Each of the following areas was the site of a fur seal hunt until the population was either commercially extinct (depleted to the level where it was not profitable to hunt) or really extinct: 
Off the west coast of Namibia in Africa, ,000 cape fur seal are taken each year.  This is about 10% of the world's sealing activity, and much of the profit comes from the sale of penises for the aphrodisiac trade in Asia.  Most of the seals are being killed by clubbing to death, which is claimed to be a humane method.  
: Kerguelen Island
?: Australian coast
: Macquarie Island

34. 75% breed on Pribilof Islands
Fur seals in the Northern Hemisphere
In the North Pacific, the northern fur seal was hunted on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, first by the Russians using Inuit labor after they had wiped out the sea otters.
The slaughter went from 127,000 in 1791 down to 7,000 a year in the 1820's after 2.5 million had been killed. The population recovered after the Russian hunters moved to other areas, but after Alaska was sold to the U.S. in 1867 the hunting level went back up to 250,000 per year. This reduced the population again so that in the 1890's the number killed was down to 17,000 a year.
Northern fur seal hunt
Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea
Annual kill:
Total population: ~1,355,000
75% breed on Pribilof Islands
1791: ,000
1820's: ,000
1867: ,000
1890's: 17,000

35. Led to the North Pacific Fur Seal Treaty of 1911
Studies in 1870s showed that the Fur Seals were being disastrously overharvested
Led to the North Pacific Fur Seal Treaty of 1911
Russia, Japan, Great Britain, and the U.S.
the first international treaty for wildlife conservation
forerunner of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
Treaty led to an Act of Congress in 1912 prohibiting any sealing activities for five years
allowed the herd to regenerate until 1960
But declining ever since, for unknown reasons:
It is now illegal to hunt fur seals, except for an exemption allowing Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos to continue to hunt at a subsistence level (about 2000 a year).
It is now illegal to hunt fur seals, except for an exemption allowing Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos to continue to hunt at a subsistence level (about 2000 a year).

37. A new threat to marine mammals: Entanglement
Northern fur seal entangled in a piece of fishing net, St. Paul Island, 1992
5,200 died in 1991 due to entanglement in the high seas driftnet fisheries (these fisheries now discontinued).
Still commonly caught by the Japanese squid driftnet fishery and a small number of seals are entangled in Alaskan gillnet and trawl fisheries.
Northern fur seal entangled in a piece of fishing net, St. Paul Island, 1992
5,200 died in 1991 due to entanglement in the high seas driftnet fisheries

38. Range and breeding grounds of the Harp Seal
Harp seal.  A massive seal hunt also developed in the North Atlantic, taking advantage of the huge harp seal population that breeds on the pack ice in winter around Labrador and Newfoundland.
Range and breeding grounds of the Harp Seal

39. European Union imposing trade sanctions
Original ~10 million
Present ~ 5 million
1850’s kill: 600,000 per year
2008: 275,000
European Union imposing trade sanctions
The sealers, from Newfoundland, focus on the newborn seals with pure white fur, although adults are also taken for their oil as well as fur.
The Newfoundland sealing industry began in the early 19th century and peaked at about 600,000 animals per year in the 1850's. This ultimately led to reduction in the size of the herd to about one fifth of its original size, and the industry went into decline in the early 20th century. A 1998 study shows that the current level of hunting (350,000 animals killed in one season) is not sustainable.  Again in 1999 Canada is being criticized for allowing 275,000 of these animals to be killed in spite of public opinion against it. 
The adult harp seals are also hunted on a subsistence level further north by Inuit hunters, who use the meat for food but also sell the skins in order to pay for the snowmobiles, rifles, gasoline and ammunition that are used in their hunting activities.
Another herd of harp seals, at Jan Mayen Island in the Arctic ocean, was wiped out by a rapid boom and bust between 1840 and 1860.
Opposition to the hunt is based not only on the effect on the chances of survival for the species, but also on the cruel methods of killing (smashing the skulls of baby seals with a spiked club)
Canada's stated aim: “sustainable harvest”, recommended 275,000 per year
~20 Canadian conservation groups lobbying for a reduction in the TAC
Canadian Sealers' Association asked for a 10% increase
Claim the decline in Cod is related to predation by seals

40. What is being done Boycott of Canadian Seafood products
Pressure on Fashion Houses and companies
Pressure on Canadian politicians
Pressure on Canadian Tourism Commission

41. A success story! Northern Elephant Seal
1800’s: hunted for oil by whalers 1884: (on Guadalupe Island, Baja California) Now: ~160,000
Elephant Seals were hunted in the Pacific in the 1800s by whalers who wanted to supplement their catch. They were hunted for their oil rather than their fur or skin. Hundreds of thousands of these animals were killed in the southern ocean and along the coast of California.
The southern population (a distinct subspecies) was saved when the Kerguelen and Macquarie Islands were turned into nature reserves, but in 1884 it appeared that the northern subspecies had been lost. However, a small colony of about had survived on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja California.  The species was given protection by the Mexican and U.S. governments in the 1920s and the stock is now doing quite well. Today, there are approximately 160,000 northern elephant seals! 

42. A large breeding population (~2000) now congregates on the beach at Ano Nuevo, fifty-five miles south of San Francisco, every winter.
Seals and sea lions may have had many more breeding colonies on the mainland before they were eliminated by prehistoric hunting.

43. Lost: Caribbean Monk Seal
Hunted first for food
Later for oil
Last confirmed sighting 1952
Declared extinct in 1996
Caribbean monk seals, once abundant and native to the Gulf of Mexico, were hunted for food by visiting explorers starting with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in They were later hunted for their oil by fishermen in the 17th- 19th centuries. The last confirmed sighting was in 1952 and after numerous searches the species was formally declared extinct by the IUCN in 1996.

44. Walrus Russian Eskimos
                                                                                                      
Walruses were killed for three centuries for their oil, skin, and ivory from their tusks. They were once abundant in the North Pacific, North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans, but like the other seals, walruses were hunted almost to extinction.
Russian Eskimos

45. Walrus Distribution Alaska: Native subsistence harvest
Russia: Commercial and subsistence
Population: ~200,000
Harvest: 5,500-10,300 / year
BUT (Feb 08): Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned USFWS to list Walrus (and Polar Bear) as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act
They are now protected in this country and the walrus population appears stable at about 200,000 individuals. BUT: Like the Polar Bear, they require sea ice, which is disappearing fast.
D:\bio65data\14Pollution\Arctic Ice and Way of Life Melting Away for Eskimos.htm

46. REASON: Both Species require sea ice for feeding, resting and raising young, and the ice is melting fast due to global warming

47. Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972
Congress found that:
certain species and population stocks of marine mammals are, or may be, in danger of extinction or depletion as a result of man's activities;
such species and population stocks should not be permitted to diminish beyond the point at which they cease to be a significant functioning element in the ecosystem of which they are a part, and, consistent with this major objective, they should not be permitted to diminish below their optimum sustainable population level;
measures should be taken immediately to replenish any species or population stock which has diminished below its optimum sustainable level; ...
marine mammals have proven themselves to be resources of great international significance, aesthetic and recreational as well as economic.

48. The MMPA established a moratorium, with certain exceptions, on the “taking” of marine mammals in U.S. waters and by U.S. citizens on the high seas, and on the importing of marine mammals and marine mammal products into the United States

49. Take: The term "take" is statutorily defined to mean "to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture or kill any marine mammal."
The Act's moratorium on taking does not apply to taking by any Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo who resides in Alaska and who dwells on the coast of the North Pacific Ocean or the Arctic Ocean if such taking is for subsistence purposes or for creating and selling authentic Native articles of handicrafts and clothing, and is not done in a wasteful manner
optimum sustainable population means “ the number of animals which will result in the maximum productivity of the population or the species, keeping in mind the carrying capacity of the habitat and the health of the ecosystem…”

50. Different Views on Marine Mammal Hunting
Strongest opposition from anti-cruelty activists and animal welfare organizations including the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  They argue that clubbing animals to death or puncturing their skulls with an iron spike is inhumane.
The North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission is conducting scientific studies on the best way to kill marine mammals.
Another form of opposition has been based on the danger it poses to the survival of these species.  This viewpoint emphasizes that most hunts have not been sustainable, but have seriously depleted or wiped out the target population in a "boom and bust" cycle. 
The fact that many hunted populations have recovered quite well after we stopped hunting them leads to pressure to continue hunting and to try to manage the activity on a "sustainable" basis. 
The High North Alliance was established to defend the right of coastal communities to utilize marine mammals sustainably. 

51. Losing Species
Present extinction rate = ~ one per hour = ~1,000 times normal, almost all caused by human activities.
Number of species = ~ 5 million
We have probably already lost 1 million species
Several more million will be lost in the first few decades of the 21st century.

52. Critically Endangered
Number of Endangered and Extinct Animal Species compiled from the IUCN Red List, 2006
Class
Extinct
Extinct in Wild
Critically Endangered
Endangered
Vulnerable
Total Threatened
Mammals   70 4
162
348
583
1,093
Birds  
135
181
351
674
1,206
Reptiles   22 1 73
101
167
341
Amphibians 34
442
738
631
1,811
Insects   59 68
129
426
623
All animals
698 38
1,528
2,222
3,973
7,723

54. Recently Extinct Mammals (from a list of 120 at http://www. petermaas
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
IUCN Links:
Acerodon Lucifer
Panay Giant Fruit Bat
IUCN Species Information
Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus
Bubal Hartebeest
Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi 
Eastern Bettong
Bettongia lesueur graii
Burrowing Bettong
Bettongia penicillata penicillata
Brush-tailed Bettong 
Bison bonasus caucasius
Caucasian Wisent
Boromys offella 
Oriente Cave Rat
Boromys torrei
Torre's Cave Rat
Brotomys voratus 
Hispaniolan Edible Rat
Bos taurus primigenius
Aurochs
Caloprymnus campestris
Desert Rat-kangaroo
Canariomys tamarani
Giant Canary Island Rat 
Canis lupus deitanus
Spanish Wolf
Canis lupus hattai
Hokkaido Japanese Wolf 
Canis lupus hodophilax
Honshu Japanese Wolf
Canis rufus floridianus
Florida Red Wolf
Capra pyrenaica lusitanica
Portuguese Ibex
Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica
Pyrenean Ibex
Cervus elaphus canadensis
Eastern Elk 
Cervus elaphus merriami
Merriam Elk 
Cervus schomburgki
Schomburgk's Deer 
Chaeropus ecaudatus
Pig-footed Bandicoot 
Conepatus mesoleucus telmalestes
Big Thicket Hog-nosed Skunk
Conilurus albipes
White-footed Tree-rat
IUCN SPecies Information
Crateromys paulus
Ilin Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat
IUCN Species Information CR
Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis 
Unknown (subspecies of the Sumatran Rhino)
Dobsonia chapmani 
Philippine Bare-Backed Fruit Bat 
Dusicyon australis
Falkland Island Wolf 
Equus caballus gmelini
Tarpan
Equus hemionus hemippus
Syrian Wild Ass
Equus quagga burchelli
Burchell's Zebra
Equus quagga quagga
Quagga 
Gazella arabica
Arabian Gazelle
Gazella bilkis
Queen of Sheba's Gazelle
Gazella rufina
Red Gazelle
Geocapromys columbianus
Cuban Coney 
Geocapromys thoracatus 
Swan Island Hutia
Geomys pinetis goffi
Goff's Southeastern Pocket Gopher
Hexolobodon phenax 
Imposter Hutia
Hippopotamus lemerlei
Madagascan Dwarf Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus madagascariensis
Malagasy Hippo
Hippotragus leucophaeus 
Bluebuck
Hydrodamalis gigas
Steller's Sea Cow 
Isolobodon montanus 
Montane Hutia
Kobus leche robertsi
Roberts' Lechwe
Lagorchestes asomatus
Central Hare-wallaby 
Lagorchestes hirsutus hirsutus 
Rufous Hare-wallaby
Lagorchestes leporides
Eastern Hare-wallaby
Lagostrophus fasciatus albipilis
Banded Hare-Wallaby
Leporillus apicalis
Lesser Stick-nest Rat 
Macropus greyi
Toolache Wallaby 
Macrotis leucura
Lesser Bilby 
Malpaisomys insularis
Lava Mouse
Megalomys desmarestii
Martinique Musk Rat 
Megalomys luciae 
Santa Lucia Giant Rice Rat
Monachus tropicalis
Caribbian Monk Seal
Mustela macrodon 
Sea Mink 
Mystacina robusta 
New Zealand Greater Short-tailed Bat 
Nesophontes hypomicrus
Atalaye Nesophontes
Nesophontes micrus
Western Cuban Nesophontes
Nesophontes paramicrus
Saint Michel Nesophontes
Nesophontes zamicrus
Haitian Nesophontes
Nesoryzomys darwini
Darwin's Galapagos Mouse
Nesoryzomys indefessus
Indefatigable Galapagos Mouse
Notomys amplus
Short-tailed Hopping-mouse
Notomys longicaudatus
Long-tailed Hopping-mouse
Notomys macrotis 
Big-eared Hopping-mouse
Notomys mordax 
Darling Downs Hopping-mouse 
Nyctimene sanctacrucis
Nendo Tube-nosed Fruit Bat
Nyctophilus howensis
Lord Howe Long-Eared Bat
Onychogalea lunata
Crescent Nailtail Wallaby 
Oryzomys galapagoensis galapagoensis
Chatham Island Rice Rat
Oryzomys nelsoni
Nelson's Rice Rat
Ourebia ourebi kenyae
Kenya Oribi
Panthera leo leo
Barbary Lion
Panthera leo melanochaitus
Cape Lion
Panthera onca arizonensis
Arizona Jaguar 
Panthera tigris balica
Bali Tiger
Panthera tigris sondaica
Javan Tiger
Panthera tigris virgata
Caspian Tiger
Papagomys theodorverhoeveni 
Verhoeven's Giant Tree Rat
Paulamys naso 
Flores Long Nosed Rat
Perameles bougainville fasciata
Western Barred Bandicoot 
Perameles eremiana
Desert Bandicoot 
Peromyscus gossypinus restrictus
Chadwick Beach Cotton Mouse
Peromyscus pembertoni
Pemberton's Deer Mouse
Peromyscus polionotus decoloratus 
Ponce de Leon Beach Mouse
Phacochoerus aethiopicus aethiopicus
Cape Warthog
Phyllonycteris major
Puerto Rican Flower Bat 
Pipistrellus sturdeei 
Sturdee's Pipistrelle
Plagiodonta ipnaeum 
Samana Hutia
Potorous platyops
Broad-faced Potoroo 
Procolobus badius waldroni
Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey
Procyon gloveralleni
Barbados Raccoon
Prolagus sardus
Sardinian Pika
Pseudomys gouldii
Gould's Mouse
Pteropus brunneus 
Dusky Flying Fox
Pteropus loochoensis
Okinawa Flying Fox
Pteropus pilosus
Large Palau Flying Fox
Pteropus subniger
Lesser Mascarene Flying Fox
Pteropus tokudae
Guam Flying Fox
Quemisia gravis 
Twisted-Toothed Mouse
Rattus macleari
Maclear's Rat
Rattus nativitatis
Bulldog Rat
Ratufa indica dealbata
Dangs Giant Squirrel
Rhizoplagiodontia lemkei 
Lemke's Hutia
Sigmodon arizonae arizonae 
Arizona Cotton Rat
Sigmodon fulviventer goldmani
Hot Springs Cotton Rat
Solenodon marcanoi 
Marcano's Solenodon
Spelaeomys florensis 
Flores Cave Rat
Sphiggurus pallidus
Pallid Hairy Dwarf Porcupine
Sus cebifrons cebifrons
Cebu Warty Pig
Synaptomys cooperi paludis
Kansas Bog Lemming
Synaptomys cooperi relictus
Nebraska Bog Lemming
Thomomys mazama tacomensis
Tacoma Pocket Gopher 
Thylacinus cynocephalus
Tasmanian Tiger
Uromys imperator 
Emperor Rat 
Uromys porculus
Guadalcanal Rat 
Ursus arctos nelsoni
Mexican Grizzly Bear
Xenothrix mcgregori
Jamaican Monkey
Zalophus californianus japonicus
Japanese Sea Lion 
Last updated: 26th November 2004.
This page is a part of Recently Extinct Animals. © 2004.

55. Documented Animal Extinctions
Mammals
121
Bird Species
150
Bird Subspecies 79
Reptiles 25
Amphibians 88
Fish 87
Mollusks
292
Insects 62
Arachnids 4
Crustaceans 7
Sea Anemones & Corals 2
Velvet Worms 1
Flatworms
Segmented Worms
Pyrenean ibex
Some notable extinctions since 2000
Western Black Rhino
Miss Waldron's Red Colobus

56. Baiji River Dolphin – declared extinct after a thorough search December 2006.
The first whale or dolphin to disappear in modern times
The first large mammal to go extinct as a result of man's destruction of their natural habitat and resources
Declined due to destruction of their habitat, illegal fishing and collisions with ships.
1980s: 400
1997: 13
2002: Last captive Baiji died 
2004: Last confirmed sighting

59. Hippos in DR Congo face extinction
20 yrs ago there were ~22,000 hippos in Virunga National Park
The hippo population is declining in many parts of Africa
Added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2006.
The Mai Mai militia catches the animals for meat and ivory.
Population in 2006 ~400; in 2007 <100.
The entire population may disappear within a few months
Hippopotamus dung provides nutrients for fish, and the reduced number of hippos has led to a rapid decline of the lake's fish stocks.
Loss of hippos will not only lead to an environmental disaster, but also to an economic crisis for local communities
Virunga