Online resources

Check these sites for more information about extinct animals:

• The World Conservation Union:
  Also known as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (www.iucn.org). This organization maintains the Red List of threatened species, both plants and animals.

  http://www.iucnredlist.org/

  In addition to photo galleries, there are statistics from the Threatened Species Database presented in a series of summary tables.

• The Sixth Extinction:
  The American Institute of Biological Sciences has compiled an excellent overview of the circumstances surrounding the modern-day mass extinction with an extensive list of resources for further study.

• Mass Extinctions and Super-Predators:
  A look at the human contribution to the biodiversity crisis with quotes from physicist Adam Lipowski, sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson and the novelist Kurt Vonnegut. There's an amusing photograph of a gorilla in a state of shock.

• The Extinction Website:
  The site is split into separate sections for plants and animals. It has dedicated pages providing detailed information about individual species which have become extinct in recent times. There are discussion forums for exchanging news and views.

  • Recently Extinct Animals:
    In English,
    http://extinctanimals.petermaas.nl/
    and Dutch:
    http://uitgestorvendieren.petermaas.nl/

  • Recently Extinct Plants:
    In English,
    http://extinctplants.petermaas.nl/
    and Dutch:
    http://uitgestorvenplanten.petermaas.nl/

• An overview of recent extinctions:
  Illustrations and photos of large animals which have become extinct in modern times — from 1768 right up to 2006. At the foot of the page there's an animation showing the worldwide decline in the tiger population during the last century.

There are hundreds of Non-Governmental Organizations, independent activist groups and dedicated individuals who have websites that campaign for the protection of threatened species. Often, the information is not presented concisely. The sites and articles listed here either summarize the issues or provide in-depth information about individual species.