Inventory of extinct animals

2024-09-18 17:29:49 48

As time goes by, many species on Earth are becoming extinct due to natural disasters, human activities, climate change and other reasons. These extinct animals have sounded the alarm for us to protect biodiversity and remind us to pay attention to ecological and environmental protection. The following lists some extinct animals and their related information, displayed in a table.

Table of extinct animals

Animal name	Extinction time	Habitat	Cause of extinction	Characteristic description
Dodo	Late 17th century	Mauritius Island	Hunting by humans, habitat destruction	Flightless birds, large in size, slow in movement.
Quagga	Late 19th century	South Africa	Overhunting by humans	A type of zebra with stripes on the front and no stripes on the back.
Passenger pigeon	1914	North America	Hunting by humans, loss of habitat	Once one of the most numerous birds in the world.
Tasmanian tiger	1936	Tasmania, Australia	Hunting by humans, disease, habitat loss	A marsupial with a wolf-like appearance and stripes on its back.
Great auk	Mid-19th century	North Atlantic coast	Hunting by humans, climate change	A flightless seabird that is good at swimming and diving.
Steller's Sea Cow	Late 18th century	Bering Sea	Human overhunting	Large marine mammal that once lived near the coast.
Japanese Sea Lion	Mid-20th century	Offshore Japan	Human hunting, fishery competition	Large sea lion that lives along the coast of Japan.
Javan tiger	Late 20th century	Java Island, Indonesia	Human hunting, habitat destruction	A smaller tiger subspecies whose habitat has been eroded by agricultural development.
Cocos Island tortoise	2007	Galapagos Islands	Hunting, habitat destruction	A giant land tortoise with a long lifespan and slow speed.
Golden Toad	1989	Costa Rica	Climate change, habitat loss	A small, bright orange-yellow toad found only in rainforests.
Barbary Lion	Mid-20th century	North Africa	Hunting by humans, habitat loss	A subspecies of African lion known for its heavy mane.
Irish Giant Deer	Thousands of years ago	Europe and Asia	Climate change, habitat loss	The largest deer, male deer have huge antlers.
Long-nosed Sabre-toothed Tiger	Thousands of years ago	North America	Climate change, prey reduction	Large carnivore with huge and sharp canine teeth.
Mammoth	Tens of thousands of years ago	North America, Eurasia	Climate change, human hunting	Giant mammals with thick fur and cold resistance.
Moa	19th century	New Zealand	Human hunting, habitat destruction	Large flightless birds, once endemic to New Zealand.

Analysis of causes of extinction

Human activities: Hunting, habitat destruction, environmental pollution and other human activities are the main reasons for the extinction of many animals. As the scope of human activities expands, the habitats of many animals are invaded by agriculture and urban development, causing them to lose their living space.
Climate change: Climate change has a profound impact on the survival of animals, especially during the Ice Age and global warming, many species became extinct because they could not adapt to climate change.
Invasive species: Invasive species pose a threat to native species through competition and predation, leading to the extinction of many native species. The extinction of the dodo bird in Mauritius due to the introduction of foreign predators is a typical case.
Disease: The spread of disease between animals is also an important factor leading to species extinction, especially when the habitat becomes smaller or the food chain is destroyed, the spread of disease will be faster.

The need to protect existing endangered species

These extinct animals remind us of the importance of protecting endangered species. There are still many endangered species in the world. We need to protect their habitats, limit hunting, and reduce the impact of climate change to prevent them from repeating the same mistakes. The disappearance of each species will have a profound impact on the ecosystem. Therefore, it is our unshirkable responsibility to protect the biodiversity of the earth.

Although these animals have disappeared from the earth, their stories have sounded the alarm for us. By understanding these extinct animals, we can more clearly realize the importance of environmental protection, so as to do our part to protect existing species and maintain ecological balance.

What are the endangered animals?

The following is a list of some endangered animals, showing their basic information in a table, including species name, habitat, endangered level and main threatening factors.

Endangered Animals Table

Animal Name	Habitat	Endangered Level	Main Threat Factors
Giant Panda	Bamboo Forest Areas of China	Vulnerable (VU)	Habitat Loss, Decrease in Bamboo Forests
Snow Leopard	Mountainous Areas of Central Asia	Vulnerable (VU)	Habitat destruction, poaching
Western lowland gorilla	Central African rainforest	Critically Endangered (CR)	Diseases (e.g. Ebola), poaching
Sumatran tiger	Sumatra, Indonesia	Critically Endangered (CR)	Habitat loss, illegal hunting
Marine turtles (e.g. Hawksbill turtles)	Tropical and subtropical seas	Critically Endangered (CR)	Marine pollution, poaching, entanglement in fishing nets
Amazon River Dolphin	Amazon River Basin in South America	Endangered (EN)	Habitat destruction, pollution, fishing activities
Philippine Eagle	Philippine Rainforest	Critically Endangered (CR)	Habitat loss, illegal hunting
Blue Whale	Global Oceans	Endangered (EN)	Ship strikes, entanglement in fishing nets, marine pollution
Black rhino	Southern and Eastern Africa	Critically Endangered (CR)	Poaching (primarily for its horn), habitat loss
South China tiger	Southern China	Critically Endangered (CR)	Habitat loss, poaching
Przewalski's horse	Chinese and Mongolian grasslands	Endangered (EN)	Habitat destruction, competition with livestock
Endangered parrots (e.g., hyacinth parrot)	Brazilian Amazon rainforest	Critically Endangered (CR)	Illegal capture, habitat loss
Western slow loris	Southeast Asian rainforests	Endangered (EN)	Illegal pet trade, habitat loss
Red wolf	Southeastern United States	Critically endangered (CR)	Habitat loss, hybridization with gray wolf
Giant otter	South American rivers and wetlands	Endangered (EN)	Habitat loss, illegal hunting
Galapagos giant tortoise	Galapagos Islands	Endangered (EN)	Habitat destruction, competition from invasive species
Scarlet Nautilus	Indo-Pacific	Vulnerable (VU)	Fishing pressure, climate change
Blue-crowned Parrot	Australia	Endangered (EN)	Habitat destruction, illegal trade
Spotted Owl Monkey	Central and South American tropical rainforests	Critically Endangered (CR)	Habitat loss, hunting
Short-tailed Albatross	Southern Ocean and North Pacific	Critically Endangered (CR)	Climate change, fishing nets

Main threats

Habitat loss: Deforestation, urban expansion, agricultural development, etc. have caused many animals to lose their homes, especially those in tropical rainforests.
Poaching and Illegal Trade: The main reason for poaching is to meet human needs for animal fur, horns, teeth, scales and other organs. Illegal hunting has caused many animals to decrease sharply in number, or even to become endangered.
Climate Change: Climate warming threatens the survival of polar, marine and alpine animals, causing their habitats to gradually disappear or become uninhabitable.
Environmental Pollution: Chemical pollution, plastic pollution and marine pollution are major threats to endangered animals, especially marine life facing the threat of plastic waste and fishing gear.

As human activities have intensified the impact on the earth's environment, more and more animals are on the verge of extinction. Protecting these endangered animals is not only about protecting biodiversity, but also about protecting the ecological balance of the earth. By reducing habitat destruction, banning illegal hunting, and controlling climate change, we can buy more time for these endangered animals to survive.

animal tags： Giant-Panda Snow-Leopard Sumatran-tiger Scarlet-Nautilus Blue-crowned-Parrot