The Iberian ibex was revived for a few minutes. Extinct in the 21st century
The Spaniards were unable to clone the Iberian ibex, but they do not give up hope of one day resurrecting the extinct species.
The Pyrenean ibex, Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica, is a species of Spanish Capricorn Capra pyrenaica. Scientists believe that this subspecies became completely extinct in 2000. However, biologists were left with frozen cells taken from the ear of the last known ibex, writes the Independent.
To create the embryos, specialists from the University of Zaragoza used eggs from domestic goats, which were also used as surrogate mothers. During the experiment, scientists created 439 embryos, of which 57 were implanted into goats.
However, the experiment was not a success: the newborn goat died immediately after birth due to breathing problems. However, previous attempts to clone Pyrenean ibex failed at an even earlier stage: in 2003, two pregnancies ended in premature miscarriages.
Nevertheless, scientists were confident that their chosen method would sooner or later bring results. Project manager Jose Folch said that the resulting hybrid is almost completely identical to the Iberian ibex.
The genetic material now used to recreate the Iberian ibex comes from a 13-year-old female captured in 1999.
Crossing representatives of closely related species is an extreme, but often the only way to save endangered animals. It is sometimes resorted to when only a few representatives of the same sex remain alive out of the entire species. Then, after a series of selective crosses, it is possible to achieve almost complete compliance of the offspring with the desired animal. However, in the case of Spanish scientists task is complicated by the fact that there are no living representatives of Capricorn left at all - and it is impossible to carry out a series of crossings. Therefore, there were no guarantees that the resulting offspring would be at least to some extent similar wild species. Spanish scientists considered their experiment successful precisely because they managed to achieve the similarity of a kid to its extinct ancestor.
Mountain goats
Mountain goats, Capra, are close relatives of rams and sheep. The genus includes medium-sized animals, whose body is tightly built, the neck is thick, the head is relatively short, and the forehead is convex and wide. Males have large horns, various types very diverse in shape and structure, in females they are small and more of the same type; at the root they are compressed from the sides, so that the longitudinal diameter is greater than the transverse one, equipped with transverse ridges in front and strongly bent back; the tail is short, triangular in shape, devoid of hair on the lower surface, and usually raised. The ears are quite large, very mobile, pointed at the ends.
All goats are typically mountain animals, inhabiting inaccessible rocky places, steep slopes of cliffs, gorges and avoiding any vast open and flat spaces. Distributed up to an altitude of 5.5 thousand m above sea level.
On July 30, 2003, a group of Spanish and French scientists turned back time. They brought an extinct animal back to life - however, it again disappeared into oblivion before their eyes. The animal they "revitalized" was a subspecies of the Iberian ibex ( Caprapyrenaicapyrenaica) and was called bucardo. It was large (weighing up to 100 kilograms) beautiful beast, who wore gracefully curved horns. For tens of thousands of years, he lived in the Pyrenees - the mountains separating Spain from France, climbed cliffs, ate leaves and stems of plants, and survived harsh winters.
The idea of bringing extinct species back to life - some call it de-extinction - is teetering on the edge of reality and science fiction for more than two decades.Then man invented the gun. Over several centuries, hunters almost exterminated the bucardo. In 1989, Spanish scientists conducted a study that showed that there are only a dozen Pyrenean ibex of this subspecies left. A few years later, there was only one bucardo running in the mountains - a female named Celia. Employees of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park, led by the director, veterinarian Alberto Fernandez-Arias, caught Celia in a trap, put a radio collar on her and released her into the wild. After nine months, the radio collar began sending out long, steady signals: a sign that Celia was dead. She was found crushed by a fallen tree trunk. Bucardo was officially declared extinct. However, Celia's cells were preserved in laboratories in Zaragoza and Madrid. Over the next few years, a team of reproductive physiologists led by José Folch tried to inject nuclei from these cells into goat eggs, purified of their own DNA, and then implant the resulting eggs into surrogate mothers. 57 such attempts caused pregnancy in only 7 cases, of which 6 ended in miscarriages. However, one mother, a cross between another subspecies of the Iberian ibex ( Caprapyrenaicavictoriae) and a domestic goat, managed to bear a baby due date. Thanks to caesarean section, produced by Folch and his colleagues, a cloned female weighing 2.5 kilograms was born. Holding the newborn in his arms, Fernandez-Arias saw how she struggled to take a breath, desperately sticking out her tongue. Despite all attempts to help her, the goat died ten minutes later. An autopsy revealed that one of her lungs had grown a huge extra lobe, as dense as a piece of liver. It was completely impossible to save the newborn. Bucardo is just one of the animals exterminated - sometimes intentionally - by humans. But at least this is a subspecies (there are two others left). And here is the dodo, the great auk, marsupial wolf, Chinese river dolphin, Passenger Pigeon and American Royal Woodpecker have completely disappeared. Today, many other species are also facing extinction, and it is unlikely that the bucardo will become the last animal to become extinct. Fernandez-Arias is part of a small but vocal cohort of scientists who believe that cloning can reverse a sad tradition. The idea of bringing extinct species back to life—some call it de-extinction—has teetered between reality and science fiction for more than two decades, ever since writer Michael Crichton unleashed the dinosaurs in The Park Jurassic period" And for quite a long time, fantasy was noticeably ahead of science. No one has come closer to true extinction than the scientists who cloned Celia. Since then, Fernandez-Arias has been looking forward to science finally catching up with science fiction, and people will be able to bring back animals that were driven to extinction from oblivion. “Now this moment has come,” the scientist told me. I met Fernandez-Arias in October 2012 at a closed scientific meeting, “Forward to the Past,” at the Washington headquarters of the National Geographic Society. This was the first ever meeting of geneticists, biologists, conservation specialists environment and on ethics, where issues of reviving extinct species were discussed. How likely is a positive result? And should we do this at all? One after another, scientists reported amazing advances in cloning stem cells, restoring ancient DNA, and reconstructing lost genomes. The further it went, the more excitement took hold of those gathered. The general impression was that the revival of extinct species is by no means a fantasy. “Research has come a lot further, much faster than anyone could have imagined,” says Ross McPhee, curator of mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. “Now we should think about why, in fact, we need to bring extinct species back to life.” In Jurassic Park, dinosaurs were brought to life for people's entertainment. Catastrophic consequences, described in the novel and shown in the film, cast a shadow on the idea of de-extinction, or rather, on its perception among ordinary people, who are much easier to scare than to teach anything. Therefore, we should not forget that “Jurassic Park” is simply a masterfully crafted science-fiction thriller. In fact, we can count on the revival only of those species that became extinct no earlier than several tens of thousands of years ago and whose remains preserved entire cells or, in as a last resort, enough DNA to allow the animal's genome to be reconstructed. Due to these natural causes we will never be able to completely reconstruct the genome of the Tyrannosaurus rex, which disappeared about 65 million years ago. All species that could theoretically be resurrected disappeared into oblivion at a time when humanity was rapidly moving towards establishing dominance over the world. First of all, what has been said applies to the recent past, when it was we, people, who became one of the reasons for the extinction of many species of living beings, by hunting them, destroying their habitat or spreading diseases. This, by the way, is one of the arguments in favor of bringing extinct species back to life.
Over the past ten years, cloning has become less risky."If we're talking about species that we've wiped out, I think we have a responsibility to try to bring them back," says Michael Archer, a paleontologist at the University of New South Wales who has championed de-extinction for years. According to opponents of this idea, resurrecting an extinct species would be tantamount to trying to pretend to be God. For Archer, such arguments make him grin: “It seems to me that we attempted to play the role of God when we destroyed these animals.” Other scientists who advocate de-extinction argue that it may have specific benefits. Biological diversity is nature's treasure trove of inventions. Majority medicines, for example, were not created from scratch by humans, but developed from natural compounds found in wild plants, which are also subject to extinction. And some animals of past eras played important role in their ecosystems. And these ecosystems will certainly benefit from their return. Let's say, 15 thousand years ago mammoths and other large herbivores lived in Siberia. At that time, this area was not moss-covered tundra, but steppe motley grass. Sergey Zimov, geophysicist and director of the North-Eastern Scientific Station Russian Academy scientists, located in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, long ago came to the idea that this coincidence was not accidental: mammoths and other herbivores supported the very existence of the steppe, loosening the soil and fertilizing it with their excrement. When they disappeared, moss replaced grass, turning the steppe into barren tundra. In recent years, Zimov has been trying to turn back the clock by introducing bison, horses, musk oxen and other large mammals into the tundra, into an area he calls the Pleistocene Park. He would be happy if woolly mammoths began to roam freely here again. “But only my grandchildren will see them,” says Zimov. – Mice reproduce quickly, but mammoths reproduce very slowly. Will have to wait". Ten years ago When Fernandez-Arias tried to bring the bucardo back to life, he had tools at his disposal that were, by today's standards, woefully crude. It's only been seven years since Dolly the sheep, the first large mammal to be cloned, was born. In those years, scientists cloned an animal by extracting DNA from one of its cells and injecting it into the egg of another individual, purified of its own genetic material. An electrical discharge was sufficient for the cell to begin dividing. The developing embryo was then implanted into a surrogate mother. The vast majority of pregnancies provoked in this way ended in miscarriages, and the few clones that were born were overcome by congenital diseases. Over the past ten years, cloning has become less risky. In addition, scientists now understand how to return the cells of adult animals to their original state so that they become embryonic-like. After this, their development can be directed so that they turn into any type of cell - including sperm and eggs. The latter are then encouraged to develop into full-fledged embryos. Thanks to this kind of technical tricks, it has become, if not easier, then practically possible, to bring a recently extinct species back to life, such as the passenger pigeon. In 1813, while traveling along the Ohio River From Hardensburg to Louisville, naturalist John James Audubon observed one of the most miraculous natural phenomena of his time: a flock of passenger pigeons (Ectopistes migratorius) blocking the sky. "The air was in literally words are filled with doves,” he later wrote. - The midday light faded, as if from solar eclipse, droppings flew to the ground like flakes wet snow; The incessant noise of flapping wings made me sleepy.” When Audubon reached Louisville at sunset, the doves were still flying—and continued to fly for the next three days. "All local residents were hung with weapons,” Audubon wrote. “The banks of the river were filled with men and boys who continuously shot at the wanderers... Many were killed.” In 1813, it was difficult to imagine a species that was less threatened with extinction. And yet, by the end of the century, the number of the red-breasted passenger pigeon had declined catastrophically due to a decrease in the area of forests where it lived and ruthless extermination. In 1900, the last pigeon seen in the wild was shot by a boy with a blowgun. And in 1914, only a century after Audubon marveled at the clouds of these birds, the last passenger pigeon kept in captivity died at the Cincinnati Zoo - a female named Martha, named after the wife of President George Washington. Writer and environmentalist Stuart Brand, known among other things for founding the Whole Earth Catalog in the late 1960s, grew up in Illinois and loved hiking in those same woods. who just a few decades earlier had heard the flapping of the wings of passenger pigeons. “Their habitat was my habitat,” he says. Two years ago, Brand and his wife Ryan Phelan, founder of DNA Direct, private company, engaged in genetic testing, became interested in whether this species could be brought back to life. One evening, while having dinner with biologist George Church, an expert on genetic engineering from Harvard Medical School, Stewart and Ryan realized that he was thinking along the same lines.
Tasmanian wolf, the largest in Australia marsupial predator, it may be possible to resurrect much faster than a passenger pigeon or mammoth.Church knew that conventional cloning methods would not work with pigeons because bird embryos develop in eggs, and no museum specimen of a passenger pigeon (including the stuffed Martha in the Smithsonian Institution) appeared to have an intact genome could be preserved. However, Church was able to suggest another way to recreate the bird. Fragments of DNA were preserved in museum samples. By combining these fragments, scientists will be able to read about a billion letters from the passenger pigeon genome. While George Church is not ready to synthesize an entire animal genome from almost nothing, he has invented a technology that allows him to construct large fragments of DNA in any sequence he needs. Theoretically, he could create genes that are responsible for certain traits inherent in the passenger pigeon - say, a gene for his long tail, – and insert them into the genome or stem cell ordinary rock pigeon. Caesar stem cells containing this altered genome could be transformed into germ cells. They, in turn, are introduced into eggs laid by a rock pigeon, where they would move into the developing genital organs of the embryo. The chicks hatched from these eggs would look like normal rock pigeons - but would produce eggs and sperm containing altered DNA. When the chicks grow, mate and lay eggs, they hatch into birds with features unique to the passenger pigeon. These pigeons can then be crossed, gradually producing birds that are more and more similar to the extinct species. Church's method of genome rewiring could theoretically be applied to any species that has a living close relative and a genome that can be reconstructed. Despite the fact that the idea of revival a passenger pigeon or even a mammoth can no longer be called a crazy fantasy; more than one year must pass before its realization. Another extinct species may be able to be resurrected much faster. The animal about which we're talking about, is the scientific passion of a group of Australian scientists led by Michael Archer, who calls their endeavor the “Lazarus Project.” Archer previously led a highly publicized cloning project Tasmanian wolf, or tiger, Australia's largest marsupial predator, which became extinct in the 1930s. Although this sad event happened recently, Archer was able to obtain only a few fragments of the animal's DNA. Archer's experiments arouse widespread interest and an atmosphere of feverish anticipation. However, Archer and his colleagues from the Lazarus Project decided not to reveal their secrets until the work began to bring tangible results. Maybe the time has come? In early January, members of the Lazarus Project announced that they were trying to resurrect two closely related species of Australian water frogs(Rheobatrachus vitellinus and R. silus). Before disappearing in the mid-1980s, these frogs reproduced in the same amazing way. The female spawned a cloud of eggs, which the male fertilized, after which the female swallowed them. The hormone contained in the eggs stopped the secretion of gastric juice in the female. Essentially, her stomach was turning into a uterus. After a few weeks, the female opened her mouth and released the ready-made frogs into the world. Due to such miracles of childbirth, these amphibians are also called caring frogs. Unfortunately, soon after researchers began studying them, the caring frogs disappeared. “One minute they were here, then the scientists came back and they were gone,” says Andrew French, a cloning specialist at the University of Melbourne who works on the Lazarus Project. Bringing frogs back from oblivion, project participants use the most modern methods cloning to insert the nucleus of a caring frog cell into the eggs of other species of Australian amphibians, devoid of their own genetic material. Progress is slow because unfertilized frog eggs begin to deteriorate within a few hours of being thrown and cannot be frozen to be revived later. Therefore, for experiments we need fresh eggs, which frogs lay once a year, during short period reproduction. Be that as it may, scientists have achieved some success. “Suffice it to say that we actually have embryos of these extinct animals,” Archer says. “We have already come very far.” The researchers are convinced that they just need more quality eggs to go even further. “At this stage, the key is quantity,” says French. The miracle of childbirth caring frogs makes you think about what we lose when another species disappears. But does this mean that we should revive extinct species? Would the world be much richer if there were frogs that grew tadpoles in their stomachs? The benefit, says French, is straightforward: Studying these frogs, say, could provide us with important knowledge about ectopic pregnancies that may one day help develop treatments for pregnant women who are unable to carry a child to term. However, many scientists view the revival of extinct animals as fun, distracting from the urgent work of preventing new mass extinctions. “It's clear that a huge effort is needed to save endangered species,” says John Vince, an evolutionary biologist at Stony Brook University in New York. – But, as it seems to me, there is no particular need to bring back extinct species to life. Why invest millions of dollars into bringing a few species back from the dead when there are millions of other species waiting to be discovered, described and conserved?” De-extinctionists respond that cloning and genetic engineering technologies, developed as they work to revive extinct animals, may help conserve animals in the future. rare species, especially those that do not reproduce well in captivity. And although the latest biotechnologies can be quite expensive, they tend to become cheaper very quickly. “Some people may have thought that developing a polio vaccine would distract from the development of artificial lungs,” says George Church. “It is difficult to predict in advance which path will ultimately turn out to be false and which will be salutary.” But what exactly are we ready to call salvation? Even if Church and his colleagues manage to recreate every single feature of a passenger pigeon in a rock pigeon, will the resulting bird actually be a passenger pigeon—or just a man-made curiosity? If Archer and French manage to produce just one caring frog, will that mean they've revived the species? If this frog does not have a mating partner, it will become the amphibian counterpart of Celia, and its species will essentially remain extinct. Would it be enough to keep a brood of frogs in a laboratory or zoo where the public would gawk at them, or would they need to be reintroduced to their original habitats for the species to truly be considered resurrected?
Even if de-extinction is successful from all points of view, the difficulties will not end there.“The history of species returning to the wild after wild extinction is littered with examples of insurmountable challenges,” says Stuart Pimm, a conservationist at Duke University. Enormous efforts, for example, have been made to reintroduce the Arabian oryx into the wild. However, when these antelopes were released into a reserve in Central Oman in 1982, almost all of them were quickly killed by poachers. “We had animals and we returned them to nature, but the world was not ready for this,” complains Pimm. “Resurrection of the species solves only one, tiny part of the problem.”
Poaching is not the only danger threatening the resurrected species. For many of them, there is no place left to call home. The Chinese river dolphin has become extinct due to water pollution in the Yangtze and other effects of human activity. Since then, the river has not become cleaner. All over the world, frogs are rapidly disappearing due to chytridiomycosis. This fungal disease is spreading due to the uncontrolled animal trade. If Australian biologists ever release the caring frogs into the mountain streams where they once lived, they could become infected again and die out.
“In the event that there is no natural environment into which the resurrected species could be released, the whole idea of its resurrection is nothing more than a pointless waste big money" says Glenn Albrecht of Australia's Murdoch University in Perth.
Even if de-extinction is successful from all points of view, the difficulties will not end there. Let's say passenger pigeons find wonderful living conditions in the regenerating forests of the eastern United States. But will they become carriers of some kind of virus that will exterminate another species of bird? And how will residents of American cities react to the appearance of flocks of pigeons that will obscure the sky and fill the streets with droppings?
Hank Greeley, a bioethicist at Stanford University, is keenly interested in exploring the ethical and legal aspects of de-extinction. Yet for him and many others, the very fact that science can bring extinct species back to life is a compelling reason to welcome de-extinction rather than condemn it. “This is actually very cool! Greeley says. – Saber-toothed tiger, you say? I would like to see a live saber-tooth tiger!”
Over the course of human history, the planet's biological diversity has undergone several dramatic changes. Some species of animals have disappeared from the surface of the Earth. Main factor global changes - active work person.
There is a fresh chapter in the sad annals of the animal world, in which now extinct animals could be seen in wildlife or zoos a few years ago. Species of animals that have gone down in history literally before our eyes - in the editorial material.
Mariana Mallard (1981)
The Mariana mallard lived only on three islands in the Pacific Ocean. The species began to disappear in the middle of the last century. The reason for the extinction of the Mariana mallard was work to drain swamps for agricultural needs after World War II.
The last representative of the species died in captivity in 1981.
Canary Black Oystercatcher (1994)
Next on the list of extinct animals is the Canary Black Oystercatcher. This type birds were widespread along the coast West Africa.
The Canary Black Oystercatcher was destroyed by the destruction of their main food - shellfish. Excessive commercial fishing in the waters off the coast of West Africa has led to birds starving to death.
The last representative of the species was seen in the late 80s. The species was officially declared extinct in 1994. Only four stuffed Canary Black Oystercatchers survive in the world.
Javan Tiger (1994)
A subspecies of tiger that inhabited the Indonesian island of Java was also declared extinct in 1994. The reason for the extinction of the Javan tiger was human agricultural activity. With the reduction of habitat, the surviving individuals moved to the mountains.
The situation around the Javan tiger population turned catastrophic in 1950, when only 25 representatives of the species were found on the island.
Iberian ibex (2000)
During the Middle Ages, the most common animal species on the Iberian Peninsula was the bucardo, or Iberian ibex. The problems began in the 19th century, but the situation became catastrophic in the 20th century. Unable to withstand competition with livestock, which were grazed in the fields where the bucardo lived, the ibex began to die out.
The last Iberian ibex died in an accident in 2000. On January 6, female Celia was found under a tree that had fallen on her. Scientists tried to restore the extinct species in 2009 by resorting to cloning, but the born baby Bucrado lived only 7 minutes.
Black-faced Hawaiian Flower Girl (2004)
The Hawaiian Islands are home to a large number of finch species. In total, scientists have counted 22 species of Hawaiian flower girls, seven of them are now on the verge of extinction, and nine are lost forever. Last on the list of extinctions was the Black-faced Hawaiian Flowerbird, which was declared lost in 2004.
This species was discovered only in 1973, and even then it was considered endangered. There were no more than 200 representatives of the species in captivity.
The black-faced Hawaiian flowerbird is one of the few species whose extinction has not been caused by humans. The reason for the extinction of birds was diseases that came with mosquitoes that appeared on the islands, and a natural reduction in the range of food plants.
Great White Madeira Butterfly (2007)
The only habitat of the Great White Madeira Butterfly was the forests of Laurisilva on the island of Madeira. The species was officially declared extinct in 2007.
The reason for the disappearance of the Great White Madeira Butterfly was the progressive 20th century. Deforestation, construction of enterprises, pollution of nature - all this added the Madeira butterfly to the list of extinct animals.
Chinese river dolphin (2007)
The next member of the list of extinct animals may still come back from the “dead.” Declared extinct in 2007, the Chinese river dolphin was spotted and filmed by a Chinese fisherman. After viewing the film, scientists concluded that this could be a representative lost sight, but "resurrect" unique dolphin didn't.
Chinese river dolphins have become a target for fishermen due to their trusting nature. Mammals were not afraid to swim close to the shores. The fact that the Chinese have long considered animals to be river goddesses did not save dolphins from human ignorance.
Caribbean Monk Seal (2008)
The last animal scientists wanted to recognize as extinct was the Caribbean monarch seal. Last time representatives of this species of monarch seal were seen back in 1952, but it was officially declared extinct only in 2008.
Caribbean monarch seal inhabited the coast and islands Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico from Honduras and Yucatan, east to Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas. Along with the Caribbean monarch seal, the mites that lived only in its nose became extinct.
West African black rhinoceros (2011)
In 2011, the extinct animals were replenished with a representative of the rhinoceros family - the West African black rhinoceros. This species of rhinoceros was the most numerous in the family, with a sharp decline recorded in the 1970s. Poachers caught the animals and sold the horn on the black market, because, according to legend, the horn of the West African black rhinoceros has healing properties.
By 1995, there were about 2,500 rhinoceroses left, by 2000 - 10, and in 2001 there were 5 left. The last individual was seen in Cameroon in 2006. Since then, experts have not been able to find a single representative of this subspecies.
Galapagos tortoise (2012)
Until 1972, this species of giant tortoise was considered extinct, but the last representative of the Galapagos tortoise was discovered on the uninhabited Pinta Peninsula.
A male named Lonesome George settled in the Galapagos for 40 years. national park. All attempts to restore the species ended in failure. On June 24, 2012, sanctuary ranger Fausto Liereno, who had been looking after the unique turtle for 40 years, found Lonesome George dead. At the time of his death, George was 100 years old, by the standards of giant tortoises - the prime of his life.
Extinction is a natural process: typical species become extinct within 10 million years after their appearance on Earth. But today, when the planet faces a number of serious problems, such as overpopulation, pollution, climate change, etc., species loss is occurring thousands of times faster than would occur naturally.
It is difficult to know exactly when certain species will disappear from the wild, but it is safe to say that thousands of animal species become extinct every year.
In this article, we take a look at the recently extinct animals that we will miss the most. From the Javan tiger and Caribbean monk seal to the Mauritian dodo (or dodo), here are 25 extinct ones we won't see again.
25. Madagascar pygmy hippopotamus
Once widespread on the island of Madagascar, the Madagascar pygmy hippopotamus was a close relative of the modern hippopotamus, although much smaller.
Initial estimates suggested that the species went extinct about a thousand years ago, but new evidence has shown that these hippos may have lived in the wild until the 1970s.
24. Chinese river dolphin
Known by many other names such as "baiji", "Yangtze River dolphin", "white-finned dolphin" or "Yangtze dolphin", the Chinese river dolphin was freshwater dolphin, who lived in the Yangtze River in China.
The population of Chinese river dolphins declined sharply by the 1970s as China began to intensively exploit the river for fishing, transport and hydroelectric power. The last known surviving Chinese river dolphin, Qiqi, died in 2002.
23. Long-eared kangaroo
Discovered in 1841, the long-eared kangaroo is an extinct species of the kangaroo family native to southeastern Australia.
It was a small animal, slightly larger and slimmer than its living relative, the red hare kangaroo. The last known specimen of this species was a female captured in August 1889 in New South Wales.
22. Javan tiger
Once common on the Indonesian island of Java, the Javan tiger was a very small subspecies of tiger. During the 20th century, the island's population increased manifold, leading to massive clearing of forests, which were converted into arable land and rice fields.
Habitat pollution and poaching have also contributed to the extinction of this species. The Javan tiger has been considered extinct since 1993.
21. Steller's cow
Steller's cow (or sea cow, or cabbage cow) is an extinct herbivore marine mammal, which was once abundant in the North Pacific Ocean.
It was largest representative sirenian order, which includes its closest living relatives - the dugong and the manatee. Hunting of Steller's cows for their meat, skin and fat led to their complete extermination within just 27 years of the species' discovery.
20. Taiwanese clouded leopard
The Taiwan clouded leopard was once endemic to Taiwan and a subspecies clouded leopards, rare Asian cats that were considered an evolutionary link between big and small cats.
Over-logging has destroyed the animals' natural habitat, and the species was declared extinct in 2004 after 13,000 camera traps showed no evidence of Taiwanese clouded leopards.
19. Red gazelle
The rufous gazelle is an extinct species of gazelle that is believed to have lived in sediment-rich mountainous areas North Africa.
This species is known to only three individuals, purchased at markets in Algeria and Oman, north of Algeria, in late XIX century. These copies are kept in museums in Paris and London.
18. Chinese paddlefish
Sometimes also called psefur, the Chinese paddlefish was one of the largest freshwater fish. Uncontrolled overfishing and destruction of natural habitat put the species at risk of extinction in the 1980s.
The last confirmed sighting of this fish was in January 2003 in the Yangtze River, China, and the species has since been considered extinct.
17. Labrador eider
The Labrador eider is believed by some scientists to be the first endemic bird species North America, which disappeared after the Columbus Exchange.
It was already a rare bird before the arrival of European settlers, and became extinct soon after. The females were gray in color, while the males were black and white. The Labrador eider had an elongated head with small, beady eyes and a strong beak.
16. Iberian ibex
Once endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, the Iberian ibex was one of four subspecies of the Spanish ibex.
In the Middle Ages wild goat was abundant in the Pyrenees, but the population declined rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries due to uncontrolled hunting. In the second half of the 20th century, only a small population survived in this region, and in 2000 the last representative of this species was found dead.
15. Mauritian dodo, or dodo
is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius in Indian Ocean. According to subfossil remains, Mauritian dodos were about a meter tall and may have weighed up to 21 kg.
ABOUT appearance Mauritian dodos can only be judged from drawings, images and written sources, therefore the life-time appearance of this bird is not known for certain. The dodo is used in popular culture as a symbol of extinction and the gradual disappearance of a species.
14. Orange Toad
Orange toads were small, up to 5 cm long, toads that used to be found in a small highland region north of the city Monteverde, Costa Rica.
The last living specimen of this animal was discovered in May 1989. Since then, no signs have been recorded confirming their existence in nature. The sudden disappearance of this beautiful frog, may have been caused by a chytridiomycete fungus and extensive habitat loss.
13. Choiseul pigeon
Sometimes also referred to as the crested thick-billed pigeon, the Choiseul pigeon is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to Choiseul Island in the Solomon Islands, although there are unconfirmed reports that members of the species may have lived on some nearby islands.
The last documented sighting of the Choiseul pigeon was in 1904. It is believed that these birds became extinct due to predation by cats and dogs.
12. Cameroonian black rhinoceros
As a subspecies of the black rhinoceros - a critically endangered species of rhinoceros - the Cameroonian black rhinoceros was once widespread throughout many African countries, including Angola, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Chad, Rwanda, Botswana, Zambia and others, but irresponsible hunting and poaching had reduced the population of this amazing animal to just the last few individuals by 2000. In 2011, this subspecies of rhinoceros was declared extinct.
11. Japanese wolf
Also known as the Ezo wolf, the Japanese wolf is an extinct subspecies common wolf, which once inhabited the coast of Northeast Asia. Its closest relatives were North American wolves rather than Asian ones.
The Japanese wolf was exterminated Japanese island Hokkaido during the Meiji Restoration, when reforms were carried out in agriculture American style was accompanied by the use of strychnine baits to kill predators that posed a threat to livestock.
10. Caribbean monk seal
Nicknamed the "sea wolf", the Caribbean monk seal was close-up view seals that inhabited Caribbean. Excessive hunting of seals for oil and depletion of their food sources are the main reasons for the extinction of the species.
The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal dates back to 1952. These animals were not seen again until 2008, when the species was officially declared extinct after a five-year search for survivors that came to nothing.
9. Eastern Puma
The eastern cougar is an extinct species of cougar that once lived in northeastern North America. The eastern puma was one of the subspecies of the North American cougar, a large cat that inhabited most USA and Canada.
Eastern cougars were declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011.
8. Great Auk
The great auk was a large flightless bird of the auk family that became extinct in the mid-19th century. Once widespread throughout the North Atlantic, from Spain, Iceland, Norway and the UK to Canada and Greenland, this beautiful bird was exterminated by man for its fluff, which was used to make pillows.
7. Tarpan
Also known as the Eurasian wild horse, the tarpan is an extinct subspecies wild horse, which once lived throughout most of Europe and some regions of Asia.
Since tarpans were herbivores, their habitat was continuously decreasing due to the growing civilization of the Eurasian continent. Combined with the incredible extermination of these animals for their meat, this has led to their complete disappearance at the beginning of the 20th century.
6. Cape Lion
An extinct subspecies of lion, the Cape lion lived along the Cape Peninsula on the southern tip of the African continent.
This majestic big cat disappeared very quickly immediately after Europeans appeared on the continent. Dutch and English colonists and hunters simply exterminated this species of animal at the end of the 19th century.
5. Falkland fox
Also known as the warra or Falkland wolf, the Falkland fox was the only native land mammals Falkland Islands.
This endemic canid went extinct in 1876, becoming the first known canid to go extinct in historical times. This animal is believed to have lived in burrows and its diet consisted of birds, larvae and insects.
4. Reunion giant turtle
Endemic to Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the Reunion giant tortoise was a large turtle, up to 1.1 meters long.
These animals were very slow, curious and not afraid of people, which made them easy prey for the first inhabitants of the island, who exterminated turtles in a huge number- as food for people and pigs. The Reunion giant tortoise became extinct in the 1840s.
3. Kioea
The kioea was a large, up to 33 cm long, Hawaiian bird that became extinct around 1859.
The kioea was a rare bird even before the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands by Europeans. Even the native Hawaiians did not seem to know about the existence of this bird.
Only 4 specimens of this beautifully colored bird have survived in different museums. The reason for their extinction still remains unknown.
2. Megaladapis
Informally known as koala lemurs, megaladapis are an extinct genus of giant lemurs that once lived on the island of Madagascar.
To clear the place, the first settlers of the island burned local dense forests, which were natural environment habitat of these lemurs, which, combined with excessive hunting of the animal, significantly contributed to the extinction of these slow-moving animals.
1. Quagga
The quagga is an extinct subspecies of savannah zebra that lived in South Africa until the 19th century.
Because these animals were fairly easy to track and kill, they were hunted en masse by Dutch colonists (and later Boers) for their meat and hides.
Only one single quagga was photographed during its lifetime (see photo), and only 23 skins of these animals have survived to this day.