Despite animal conservation going through its strides in the 21st century, not all animals can be saved due to all sorts of factors. This sadly means that animals are still going extinct under our noses.
We want to honor these animals and spread awareness about them by showing you what they looked like and how they went extinct.
1. Golden Frog
The golden frog was endemic to Costa Rica, and its population has started to decline because of climate change. This is no doubt a human factor that’s destroyed this species. The golden frog’s reproductive cycle hinged on rainfall, laying its eggs underground. Because of a lack of rain, the hatched tadpoles would become stranded.
2. Baiji
The baiji is a cousin to dolphins and was endemic to China. The sea animal was dubbed the “river dolphin.” After trying their best to find any survivors of the species, they came up with far too few to make viable breeding pairs. The species went extinct due to overfishing and a loss of their habitat.
3. Pinta Giant Tortoise
The Pinta Giant Tortoise’s last known survivor was a tortoise named Lonesome George. As the name implies, he was the last known member of his species and died in 2012. Since then, no one has been able to find another Pinta Giant Tortoise. They have found a hybrid species on the Galapagos. Overhunting of the animal was what ultimately caused its extinction.
4. Western Black Rhino
While all rhinos are endangered, the western black rhino has unfortunately become extinct due to poaching. No western black rhinos were kept in captivity, and researchers couldn’t find any left in their habitat.
5. Pyrenean Ibex
The Pyrenean ibex is a subspecies of the ibex and has been extinct since the turn of the century in 2000. The last living Pyrenean ibex, named Celia, died in 2000 in the wild by a fallen tree.
6. Maui Akepa
The Maui Akepa population declined due to the introduction of invasive species into Hawaii and habitation loss. Another factor is avian flu. Although believed to be extinct, audio had been recorded of potential Maui Akepas in the wild, although an actual sighting of the bird hasn’t been caught since 1988.
7. Bramble Cay Melomys
The last living Bramble Cay Melomys was sighted in Bramble Cay in 2009. While researchers tried to find living species in 2011 to rekindle the population, not a single one could be found.
8. The Alaotra grebe
The grebe lived in a remote part of Madagascar called Lake Alaotra. Researchers were unwilling to call it extinct at first but ultimately faced the fact it was gone in 2009. The bird hadn’t been seen since 1982.
9. Poo-uli
The Poo-uli is another bird endemic to Hawaii and faces many of the same problems as the Maui Akepa, like invasive species. Three birds were last seen in 1998. One ended up dying in captivity, and the efforts to find the last two have come up short.
