FX.co ★ Animals that have died out in the past 20 years

Pyrenean goat (2000)

Pyrenean goat, or bucardo, was an endemic mammal of the Iberian Peninsula and one of the four subspecies of Spanish Capricorn. For many centuries, the population of the Pyrenean goats was considered quite numerous, but in the 19th and 20th centuries uncontrolled hunting caused significant reduction of these mammals, and a hundred years later only a few stuffed animals remained in museums.

Chinese paddlefish (2003)

Chinese paddlefish, or psephur, was the largest freshwater fish in the world. It got its name thanks to a huge nose in the shape resembling a paddle and reaching a third of the body's length.

Unlike its closest relative, the American paddlefish, which lives in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, as well as in Lake Erie, the Chinese paddlefish in the last few decades has been extremely rare. The last time the presence of fish in the river was recorded in 2003. During the expedition, carried out several years later, no specimens of this species were found.

Mariana mallard (2004)

The Mariana mallard inhabited only three islands of the Pacific Ocean, including Guam.

The reason for the reduction of its number were irreversible changes in the natural habitat - intensive draining of marshes for the needs of agriculture in the second half of the 20th century. The last representatives of these birds died in captivity leaving no offspring.

Chinese river dolphin (2007)

The Chinese river dolphin was discovered a hundred years ago in the freshwater lake of Dongting, in Hunan province. The fairly large population of these mammals living in the Yangtze River declined dramatically by the 1970s as a result of the active use of the river for fishing, the development of river transport and the construction of hydroelectric power stations, and in 2006 it became clear that they no longer exist. The last functionally extinct specimens of the outlandish river dolphin live out their time in one of the Chinese reserves.

Caribbean monk seal (2008)

The Caribbean monk seal, nicknamed the "sea wolf," inhabited the Caribbean until recently, but as a result of excessive hunting and depletion of food sources, the population of these graceful mammals has declined sharply. The last confirmed observation of the Caribbean seal monk is dated 1952. At the beginning of the XXI century, after several years of unsuccessful searches, this species was recognized as extinct.

Alaotra grebe (2010)

Living only on the Madagascar lake of Alaotra, this pretty bird of the kind of little grebe rarely got into camera lenses, so the world has only one image of it. Its ability to fly long distances was restricted because of its small wings, so when the natural conditions of her habitation changed, the Madagascar grebe was on the verge of extinction and at the beginning of the 21st century completely extinct.

Cameroonian black rhinoceros (2011)

The western subspecies of the black rhinoceros, which inhabited Cameroon, was mercilessly exterminated by local residents by the beginning of the 2000s. Its fate has become a vivid example of how irresponsible hunting and poaching can lead to the disappearance of the once numerous animal population. Today, in East and South Africa, the other subspecies of the black rhinoceros are in great danger, many of them are also under threat of extinction.

Pinta Island tortoise (2012)

Until 1958, the island of Pinta was inhabited by a population of Galapagos turtles, but then a local fisherman brought goats there. Soon the cloven-hoofed mammals bred and destroyed all the vegetation on the island, depriving giant turtles of food. In 1971, the last adult male tortoise of Pinta Island, Lonesome George, was found. Efforts were made to mate it with other species, but no viable eggs were produced. Lonesome George died in a research center in 2012 without leaving a posterity.

Formosan clouded leopard (2013)

The Formosan clouded leopard lived on trees and in many ways resembled its Himalayan kinsman, with the only difference being that his tail was one and a half times shorter.

Last time a leopard was seen in the natural habitat in 1983. Soon, the active development of industry and excessive deforestation pushed predators into the mountains where already a small number of these animals were completely exterminated by poachers.

In 2000, the last attempt was made to locate the animal with the help of thousands of infrared cameras and special traps for collecting wool, but no traces of the leopard were found.

Cape Verde giant skink (2013)

This large extinct lizard from the family of skinks was the only representative of the genus of giant skinks. It could be found on the separate islands of the Cape Verde archipelago off the west coast of Africa. Being mostly herbivorous, giant skinks due to changes in the natural habitat began to eat chicks of seabirds, and then completely disappeared in the wild. The last representatives of the giant skink on the islands of Cape Verde were eaten by the local population. Attempts to obtain offspring in captivity undertaken by scientists at the beginning of the XXI century were in vain.

North American cougar (2015)

Although officially the US federal authorities recognized the North American cougar as an extinct species in 2015, scientists have not seen it in the wild for nearly 80 years. The animal once lived in the north-eastern part of North America inhabiting most of the US and Canada. Until recently, the cause of the extermination of this species was the alleged threat that predators represented for humans and domestic animals. However, a modern understanding of the role played by cougars in the ecosystem makes obvious the advantages of neighboring with them. Cougars can reduce the growing population of deer that cause car accidents on the highway and spread dangerous tick-borne diseases. In order to preserve the balance of the food chain in the wild, in the near future, it is planned to artificially populate the territory of the eastern states with the preserved western subspecies of the puma.

White rhinoceros (2018)

With the death of the last male of the northern white rhinoceros in Kenya's Ol Pejeta reserve, the second largest land animal on the planet after the African elephant disappeared. Despite this sad event, scientists do not lose hope of obtaining offspring from the two remaining females in the world, using the genetic material of Sudan, a rhinoceros put down on medical grounds. The situation is complicated by the fact that reproduction of this species of rhinoceros has not been studied. Females, as a rule, give birth to only one baby after eighteen months of pregnancy, in captivity, it is even more difficult to obtain offspring.