Dodos are gone forever

Animals extinct this century

These animals have gone extinct since the start of the 21st century. The pictures are either public domain or released under a GNU/Creative Commons license (most of them are from Wikipedia). The descriptions are derived from the database maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and from press releases. PIants and inverterbrates which became extinct haven't been included.

21st century extinctions:

• News Releases for the 2007 RedList of threatened species.

The Baiji Dolphin

An expedition organized by The Baiji Foundation in late 2006 sought evidence that Baiji white dolphins still existed in their only habitat, the Yangtze river in China. Scientists from six nations on two research vessels travelled for almost 3500 kilometres to the Yangtze Delta, and then retraced their route. They were equipped with sophisticated optical instruments and underwater microphones, but were unable to detect any surviving dolphins. The Foundation published a report on the expedition and declared the species functionally extinct. What does functionally extinct mean? It means too few potential breeding pairs remain to ensure that the species will survive.

West African Black Rhino

In 2006, intensive surveys were conducted to locate any surviving West African black rhinos in their last refuges in northern Cameroon. After 48 field missions, no signs were found of their continued presence, although evidence of earlier poaching remained. The IUCN issued a news release in which the chairman of the African Rhino Specialist Group stated: "As a result this subspecies has been tentatively declared as extinct."

The Golden Toad

The Golden Toad is sometimes referred to as the Monteverde Toad or the Orange Toad. It was only known to exist on a high altitude ridge in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The IUCN database entry states: "In 1989, a single male was found, this was the last record of the species. Extensive searches since that time have failed to produce any more records." Its demise is attributed to a combination of factors, including airborne pollution and, due to its restricted range, global warming.

Spix's Macaw

This species of Macaw was native to Brazil. The IUCN database entry says the last known individual in the wild disappeared at the end of 2000, and that the species may well have gone extinct, primarily through trapping for trade and from habitat loss. "Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild)."

Po'o-uli

The Po'o-uli, sometimes referred to as the Black-faced Honeycreeper, was first discovered in 1973 on the north-eastern slopes of Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui. By mid-1997, only three individuals could be found. The IUCN database entry states: "A few unlocated individuals may exist in the wild, but the current wild population is functionally zero since the three known birds occur in separate, non-overlapping home ranges and no breeding is probable without intervention."

Kama'o

Hawaiian Crow

The last Hawaiian crows were found only in the Kona Forest Unit of the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii. The IUCN database entry states: "The last two known wild individuals of this species disappeared in 2002, so the species is now classified as Extinct in the Wild."

Pyrenean Ibex

The Pyrenean Ibex was one of four subspecies of Spanish Ibex. The last known sighting of a Portuguese Ibex was in 1892, and the last Pyrenean Ibex died in January 2000. The two remaining subspecies, the Gredos Ibex and the Beceite Ibex, are classified as 'Near Threatened,' but there is a flourishing tourist industry which continues to organize hunting safaris to shoot and kill these animals.

More facts & figures — on the number of extinctions in recent times. How many animal and pIant species have become extinct? The Pyrenean Ibex was the first mammal to become extinct in the 21st century. Discover how many mammals went extinct in the last 500 years.

Until recently, there was an online "Gallery of Recently Extinct Species" with illustrations of four of these animals. These pictures are mainly from Wikipedia.