Recently Extinct Animals

With environmentalists trying to spread awareness about conservation of species, everybody has become quite eager to know which all animals feature in the list of recently extinct species. The term 'recently' here is a vague term which may refer to the last decade, last century or, at times, even the recent geological past. If we take into consideration animals that have become extinct in the last 100 years, the list features as many as 40 species which we lost over the last century. While the list of animals extinct in the last 10 years is a bit short, the rate at which species are getting extinct of late has left the environmentalists worried.

Are Humans to be Blamed?

Deforestation, global warming, hunting (poaching), predation by other species, competition with other species, epidemic, etc., are some of the most prominent causes of species extinction that various wildlife organizations often cite. Among these, the causes of extinction which can be attributed to human activities are not just at the forefront, but have also increased by a significant amount with time. For instance, habitat destruction as a result of deforestation and global warming has been one of the major causes of animal extinction on the planet, and the species which have had to bear the brunt of the same include animals like the Cape Verde Giant Skink, Round Island Burrowing Boa, Tasmanian Wolf, etc. Similarly, species like the Bali Tiger and Javan Tiger native to Indonesia were brought to the verge of extinction by large-scale poaching for their skin which has a great demand in the international market. Other causes such as predation and competition with other species, as well as epidemics, have also triggered species extinction, but the impact of these causes has not been as grave as human related causes - like deforestation and poaching.

Recent Extinctions in Animal Kingdom

In 2009, the International Union for Conservation on Nature (IUCN) - the premier organization working for conservation of species - came up with a press statement stating that the "Wildlife crisis on the planet have become worse than economic crisis." The organization - which has been in the picture for quite sometime now - has an exhaustive database of the global conservation status of plant and animal species which is referred to as the IUCN Red List. A look at this list reveals that the damage caused to the biodiversity of our planet is much more severe than we can imagine, and the list of animals that we have lost in the last 100 years highlights this fact very well.

Species	Geographical Range	Year of Extinction*	Cause of Extinction
Arabian Ostrich	Arabian Peninsula	1966	Excessive hunting
Atitlan Grebe	Guatemala	1989	Habitat loss
Bali Tiger	Indonesia	1937	Excessive hunting
Bubal Hartebeest	Africa	1923	Excessive hunting
Bushwren	New Zealand	1972	Large-scale predation by mustelids
Canarian Black Oystercatcher	Canary Islands, Spain	1994	Human encroachment/Habitat loss
Cape Verde Giant Skink	Cape Verde Islands	1914	Habitat loss
Caribbean Monk Seal	Caribbean Sea	1952	Excessive hunting
Carolina Parakeet	United States of America	1918	Excessive hunting
Caspian Tiger	Asia	1930s	Excessive hunting/Loss of Habitat
Caucasian Wisent	Europe	1927	Large-scale predation
Colombian Grebe	Colombia	1977	Large-scale predation/Excessive hunting
Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby	Australia	1927	Large-scale predation by Red fox
Golden Toad	Monteverde	1989	Climate change/Fungal epidemic
Grand Cayman Thrush	Grand Cayman	1938	Habitat loss/Excessive hunting/Predation
Guam Flying Fox	Guam (US Territory)	1967	Habitat Loss/Predation by brown tree snakes
Hawai'i 'O'o	Hawaii	1934	Excessive hunting
Heath Hen	New England	1932	Excessive hunting for food
Japanese Sea Lion	Japanese Archipelago	1974	Excessive hunting
Javan Tiger	Indonesia	1972	Habitat loss/Excessive hunting
Kaua'i 'O'o	Hawaii	1987	Avian diseases
Laughing Owl	New Zealand	1914	Habitat loss/Predation by domestic cats
Laysan Rail	Hawaii	1944	Habitat/Predation by rats
Little Swan Island Hutia	Caribbean	1950s	Predation by domestic cats
Palestinian Painted Frog	Israel	1955	Habitat loss
Paradise Parrot	Australia	1927	Habitat loss/Predation by domestic cats
Passenger Pigeon	North America	1912	Excessive hunting for food
Pyrenean Ibex	France and Spain	2000	Excessive hunting
Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard	Canary Islands, Spain	1930s	Commercial exploitation in scientific research
Round Island Burrowing Boa	Round Island, Mauritius	1975	Loss of habitat
Ryukyu Wood-pigeon	Okinawa Archipelago, Japan	1936	Habitat loss
Santo Stefano Lizard	Santo Stefano Island, Italy	1965	Large-scale predation/Endemic
Schomburgk's Deer	Thailand	1930s	Excessive hunting
South Island Piopio	New Zealand	1963	Predation/Habitat loss
Syrian Wild Ass	Asia	1927	Excessive hunting
Tasmanian Wolf	Australia	1936	Excessive hunting/Habitat loss
Thicktail Chub	California, United States	1950s	Habitat loss/Competition with hybrid species
Toolache Wallaby	Australia	1950s	Excessive hunting/Predation by foxes/Habitat loss
Wake Island Rail	Wake Island, Pacific Ocean	1945	Excessive hunting for food

^{*The year of extinction may refer to the last confirmed sighting of the species or the year in which it was officially declared extinct.}
While many sources suggest that the Baiji River Dolphin has become extinct, the fact is that it has been declared Functionally Extinct as the search for this species in its native habitat didn't yield any positive results. Similarly, there exist some confusion about the extinction of Barbarian Lion which according to some sources does exist in captivity even today. Other animals which are believed to have become extinct, but the official confirmation is still awaited, include species like the Western Black Rhinoceros, Zanzibar Leopard, Madeiran Large White, Spix's Macaw, etc. These species are enlisted as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. Other prominent names which are often found in the lists of extinct animals include the Quagga, Dodo, Cape Lion, Falkland Island Wolf, Steller's Sea Cow, etc., which became extinct before the dawn of the 20th century.

In a given ecological system, extinction of one species can put tremendous pressure on the entire ecosystem. If an apex predator becomes extinct, the number of herbivores tends to increase and destroys the vegetation cover. Similarly, if pollinating agents become extinct, it acts as a trigger for the extinction of various flowering plant species. The domino effect of species extinction becomes all the more prominent when the extinction of one species - whether plant or animal - leads to extinction of another. What's even worse is the fact that we ourselves are sitting at the other end of this chain, which means that we are bound to face the heat sooner or later.