Animals: those that are not, and those that will not be. Animals: those that are not, and those that will not be Animals under the threat of extinction
Internet marketer, editor of the site "In an accessible language"
Publication date: 12/05/2017
Have you ever seen Bali tiger or marsupial wolf? Probably not…
It's a pity, but there will no longer be a chance to see these amazing animals live, since they were recently declared extinct.
Despite all the efforts of organizations to protect endangered animals, some species periodically fall into the list of extinct and many are on the verge of extinction. Man is the main culprit in the extinction of animals in our time.
Today we will tell you about 15 bright representatives of the extinct fauna quite recently, literally over the past 100 years.
Considered extinct since 1922.
The Barbary lion lived in the North African semi-deserts, steppes and forests, and it was also distributed in the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa.
The main distinguishing features of the predator are a very thick mane and large size. The males of the Barbary lion weighed from 160 to 250 kilograms, the weight of the females was an order of magnitude less - from 100 to 170 kg. The mane of the Barbary lion grew not only on the neck and head, it went far beyond the shoulders, and also grew on the stomach.
In ancient Rome, entertaining competitions with the participation of the Barbary lion were common, as a rule, the Turanian tiger, which also died out, acted as its opponent.
The reason for the disappearance of the subspecies is considered to be targeted extermination due to the frequent attacks of Barbary lions on livestock, the number of predators has decreased especially strongly after they began to use firearms for shooting.
The last Barbary lion was killed in 1922 in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.
Considered extinct since 1927.
Photo: en.wikipedia.org The Syrian kulan was distributed on the Arabian Peninsula, lived in deserts, semi-deserts, dry meadows and mountain steppes. Lived in Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The main component in the diet of the Syrian kulan was grass, leaves of shrubs and trees.
The Syrian kulan was one of the smallest representatives of horses, its height at the withers was only one meter. Also, its distinctive features include the color changing depending on the season, in summer the color of the fur of the kulan was olive, and in winter it acquired a sandy and even pale yellow color.
The last wild representative of the subspecies was shot in 1927 near the Azraq oasis in Jordan, and the last individual living in captivity died in the same year at the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna (Austria).
3. Marsupial wolf (thylacine)
Considered extinct since 1936.
Marsupial wolves at the New York Zoo, 1902 The marsupial wolf (or Tasmanian wolf) is the only representative of this family that survived to the historical era.
Thylacine was the largest of the marsupial predators of our time, its weight was 20-25 kg, the height at the withers reached 60 centimeters, the body length was 1-1.3 meters (with a tail - 1.5-1.8 m.).
It is known that in ancient times (the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene), stilacin lived on the territory of mainland Australia, as well as on the island of New Guinea, about 3000 years ago, marsupial wolves were driven out of their territory by dingo dogs brought there by people from Southeast Asia.
In historical times, marsupial wolves lived only on the island of Tasmania - where dingo dogs did not penetrate.
The reason for the extinction of the Tasmanian wolf, as in a number of other cases, is the mass extermination of people. The marsupial wolf was considered the main enemy of the Tasmanian farmers, he attacked the sheep and ruined the poultry houses. In the 30s of the 19th century, a mass shooting of a predator began, the authorities gave rewards to hunters for the head of each killed animal.
After a long shooting, the number of thylacines decreased, rare specimens were found only in remote areas. In addition to shooting, the Tasmanian wolf population was severely damaged by a viral disease that broke out at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1914, marsupial wolves were numbered in units.
The last marsupial wolf living in the wild was killed on May 13, 1930, and in 1936 the last individual kept in a private zoo in Hobart died of old age.
In March 2017, the media reported that animals similar to thylacine were caught in the lenses of video traps in Cape York Park. For reasons of keeping the animal's habitat a secret, the photographs were not released to the public. There was no official confirmation that it was the marsupial wolf that got into the lenses.
Considered extinct since 1937.
Illustration: en.wikipedia.org Gray kangaroos lived in the south and southeast of Australia. Individuals of this species could be found in open spaces next to eucalyptus forests, in which these animals hid during the rains.
The name of the animal was given in honor of Sir George Gray, who served as Governor of South Australia from 1812 to 1898.
Like other members of the kangaroo family, Gray's kangaroos ate plant foods, mainly the foliage of shrubs and trees.
Poaching is considered the main cause of extinction - people hunted kangaroos for fur and meat. In addition, scientists believe that the reason for the decline in the population of wild gray kangaroos is attacks on them by predatory animals.
Gray's last wild kangaroo was killed in 1924, and in 1937 the last individual living in the national park died.
Declared extinct in 1937.
Photo: animalreader.ru The Bali tiger lived exclusively on the island of Bali (Indonesia), most often this feline representative could be found in local forests.
The Bali tiger was one of the smallest representatives of the tiger species. The weight of males was 90-100 kg, females were slightly smaller, their weight rarely exceeded 80 kg, usually 65-75 kg. The body length of adult males was in the region of 120-230 centimeters, females - from 93 to 183 cm.
The life expectancy of Bali tigers is 8-10 years.
After the killing of the first Bali tiger, in 1911, representatives of this subspecies began to be of interest to hunters. Due to the relatively small area of \u200b\u200bthe habitat of these animals, the Bali tigers were exterminated very quickly.
The last female was killed in the western part of the island. The subspecies was officially declared extinct in 1937.
Considered extinct since 1938.
Photo: en.wikipedia.org The Schomburgka deer lived in central Thailand in the valley of the Chao Phraya River. It could be found on swampy plains overgrown with shrubs, reeds and tall grass.
During the rainy and flood season, Schomburgk's reindeer would leave the marshland and rise to higher ground, becoming easy prey for hunters.
Representatives of this species were named after the British Consul in Bangkok, Sir Robert Schomburgk, who worked there from 1857 to 1864.
According to scientists, the main reason for the extinction of the Schomburgk deer is the development of the infrastructure of cities located near the habitats of animals. Drainage of swamps, construction of roads and enterprises have actually destroyed the habitats of this animal. In addition, hunters and poachers have made their "contribution" to the extinction of this species.
It is known that the last Schomburgk deer living in the wild was killed in 1932, and the last individual living in the zoo died in 1938.
Considered extinct since 1950.
Photo: Harvard Museum of Natural History / Peabody Museum The island hutia lived exclusively on the island of Small Sisne in the Caribbean Sea (the territory of Goonduras). Due to the fact that the base of the island on which the Hutii lived consists mainly of coral rock, these animals, as a rule, could not dig holes, therefore they settled in the crevices of the coral rock.
Representatives of the species were herbivores. Their weight could reach one kilogram, and the length of the body of an adult individual was 33-35 centimeters. The sizes of males practically did not differ from the sizes of females.
It is believed that the island hutias were exterminated by cats brought to the island by people. The last mention of these creatures dates back to 1950.
The species has been considered extinct since 1952. Officially declared extinct only in 2008.
Photo: en.wikipedia.org The Caribbean monk seal was the only representative of the genus of seals that lived in the Caribbean Sea. They could be found on sandy beaches, as well as reef lagoons.
Caribbean monk seals were last sighted in the western Caribbean in 1952 and have not been seen since. During an expedition conducted in the Caribbean in 1980, scientists did not find a single monk seal.
According to zoologists, the main reason for the extinction of the Caribbean monk seals is the negative impact of human activities on the environment.
Considered extinct since the 1960s.
Photo: en.wikipedia.org The Mexican grizzly lived in the forests, it could be found in the state of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Northern Durango in Mexico, in addition, individuals of this species were also found in the United States - in the states of Arizona and New Mexico.
The last time a live Mexican grizzly was seen was in 1960.
The extinction of Mexican grizzlies is associated with uncontrolled hunting for them, as well as with the development of human habitats for these animals.
In 1959, the Mexican government banned the hunting of Mexican grizzlies, but this measure was belated and did not help save the population.
Considered extinct since 1974.
Photo: en.wikipedia.org The Japanese sea lion lived in the Sea of Japan on the west and east coasts of Japan, as well as on the east coast of Korea.
In addition, it could be found on the island of Ryukyu (Japan), on the southern coast of the Russian Far East, on the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and in the south of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The main reason for the extinction of the Japanese sea lion is considered to be hunting and persecution by fishermen.
According to scientists, in the 19th century, the population of Japanese sea lions numbered from 30 to 50 thousand individuals. Uncontrolled hunting for them and the development of their habitats has led to a terrifying reduction in their numbers. The last reliable information about 50-60 individuals was obtained in 1951, then a small population was found on the Liancourt Islands.
The last time a Japanese sea lion was seen in 1974 on the coast of the small island of Rebun. Since that time, no one else saw these animals.
11. Canary black oystercatcher
Declared extinct in 1994.
Photo: fishki.net The Canarian black oystercatcher lived in West Africa on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. This bird also suffered from human hands. It is worth noting that people did not hunt this bird, but still brought it to starvation.
As the well-known proverb says: until the thunder breaks out, the peasant will not cross himself. It is the best suited to the current situation in the global ecology. It is over the past 50 years that mankind has become especially active on the way to an ecological catastrophe.
In total, 30% of all known resources of the planet have already been used up. Many natural resources, as well as supplies of clean water and food, are on the verge of depletion. Meanwhile, the world's population continues to grow steadily. In the last 50 years alone, mankind has destroyed 90% of all world stocks of large commercial fish.
The oceans and its inhabitants.
22% of known ocean fishing areas are completely depleted or overexploited, and another 44% are on the verge of depletion. Only in recent years in the northern part of the Atlantic, commercial stocks of cod, hake, sea bass and flounder have decreased by 95%. A study of commercial fisheries published in 2006 in the journal Science gloomily predicts that if fishing continues at its current pace, the entire fishing industry in the world will collapse in 2048 because there will simply be no more fish left in the world. 
But overfishing is terrible not so much in itself as in its monstrous consequences. Catching edible species of fish, 27 million tons of other living creatures are thrown back into the sea every year from the nets - as a rule, already in a non-viable state. Food chains are disrupted, as a result of which, before our eyes, entire species of birds and mammals, the main diet of which was the same fish, are dying out. In addition, the seabed in many areas of the ocean is so plowed by trawls that nothing can live on it. 
Coral reefs are the most diverse water system on Earth, suffering from overfishing, pollution, epidemic diseases and rising temperatures. At least 19% of the corals are already gone, and another 15% will be gone in the next 20 years. And if no action is taken, then in 100 years there will not be a single coral left on the planet. 
Forests and freshwater lakes.
Over the past 50 years, man has destroyed 70% of the world's forests. And 30% of those that still remain are fragmented and degrading. Cutting down in them goes at a speed of almost 130 square kilometers per year. In the last 10 years alone, the area of forested areas in the world has decreased by 1.4 million square kilometers. For comparison: the area of all forests in Russia is 8.5 million square kilometers. The highest rate of deforestation is now observed in developing tropical countries such as Nigeria, Mexico, India, Thailand, Laos, Congo and others. 
Why is deforestation dangerous? First of all - the impact on the atmosphere and the enhancement of the greenhouse effect. About a third of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions come from deforestation. Through nutrition from the roots and subsequent evaporation through the leaves, it is the forests that provide a stable transfer of moisture from the oceans to the centers of the continents to fill rivers, swamps and groundwater. There will be no forests - the central parts of the continents will turn into deserts.
More than 45,000 lakes have been destroyed along with forests. 
Animal world.
Over the past half century, man has destroyed a quarter of all known bird species, and 11% of the remaining are on the verge of extinction. Just think about it: 40% of all currently known organisms on the planet belong to the class of endangered. Current extinction rates are estimated to be between 10 and 100 times higher than any previous mass extinction event in Earth's history. There are cases when the extinction of species occurs literally in a matter of years - for example, Steller's cow. This mammal of the siren squad was discovered in 1741, however, in less than 30 years, already in 1768, due to the predatory hunt for tasty meat, these animals completely disappeared. 
Sturgeons, which appeared more than 250 million years ago, managed to outlive the dinosaurs, although they were clearly inferior in strength to the largest creatures in the world. But today, one of the oldest fish on the planet is on the verge of extinction - 5 out of 6 sturgeon species in Ukraine are endangered.
The situation is so critical that on May 24, a large-scale Animal Planet campaign, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Happy Paw Ukrainian charitable foundation, “Sturgeon Calls for Help” was launched in Ukraine to attract public attention to this problem. By common efforts, it is possible to save sturgeons from the fate of a dozen other animals that have disappeared without a trace over the past hundred years.
Three types of tigers
In the 20th century, three species of tigers disappeared at once. Javanese was one of the smallest subspecies - males weighed no more than 140 kg, and females - up to 115 kg, while, for comparison, their Amur relatives reach an average of 250 kg. But no matter how small the skin of a tiger, it is still of great value, therefore, due to poaching, by the 1950s, the population was reduced to 25 individuals, and in the mid-1980s, the last Javan tiger died.
According to one theory, the Javan and Bali tigers were the same species, but after the Ice Age they became isolated on two neighboring islands. The appearance of the Balinese predators also speaks in favor of this theory - they were also one of the smallest representatives of the species. The first tiger was killed in 1911, the animals were officially recognized as extinct already in 1937 - it took only 26 years to completely exterminate the subspecies.
The Caspian (Turanian, Transcaucasian) tiger, which lived in Central Asia, Iran and the Caucasus, was much larger and more massive than both the Balinese and Javanese subspecies, but this did not save him from the same fate. During the industrial development of Central Asia, this predator was completely destroyed. For this purpose, even entire battalions were organized, and by 1954 not a single individual remained.
Source: wikipedia.org
Two types of rhinos
The twenty-first century turned out to be the last for the two subspecies of rhinos. The black rhinoceros of West Africa, which lived mainly in Cameroon, completely disappeared in 2011. In 1930, he was taken under special protection, but such protective measures for poachers did not become a stop signal. The horns of these animals are too highly valued on the black market due to their healing properties, a myth and misconception that does not have any scientific evidence. Wealthy Arabs ordered dagger handles made of rhinoceros horn - this was considered a sign of wealth. Therefore, the extermination of animals has reached incredible proportions, especially in the 1970s. Considering that pregnancy in females lasts 16 months and only one cub is born, the population simply did not have time to recover. In the same 2011, the Vietnamese rhino, a subspecies of the Javanese, was officially recognized as extinct, living in Indochina (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia) and also becoming a victim of poaching.
Source: wikipedia.org
marsupial wolf
The most famous marsupials are kangaroos and koalas, some may have heard of wombats and opossums. If it were not for the aggressive intervention of man, unique marsupial predators would exist today in nature - the Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine. Their historical habitat is mainland Australia and New Zealand, later they were forced out from there by the introduced dingo dogs. Thylacines settled on the island of Tasmania, but even there the predators were not allowed to live in peace: in the early 30s of the 19th century, mass trapping and shooting of these animals began because of their alleged ferocity and bloodthirstiness, as well as because of the harm that they caused to sheep herds. Later, after the last individual died in 1936, scientists found that the jaws of the Tasmanian wolves were poorly developed, so they could not physically hunt sheep. In this regard, a reward of 1.25 million Australian dollars was awarded in 2005 for the capture of a live marsupial wolf, but over the past 12 years, there has been no evidence that thylacines miraculously survived in the dense forests of the island.
Source: wikipedia.org
Taiwan Clouded Leopard
The Taiwan clouded leopard is endemic to Taiwan (a species that lives exclusively on this island), an incredibly beautiful animal that looks like an ocelot, only larger. The unusual coloration made the skins of these predators a desirable trophy for the inhabitants of local tribes - such clothes emphasized their high social status. Moreover, killing a smoky one was considered a feat, and the hunter himself, who returned with valuable prey, was called a hero. Since everyone wants to become a hero and win the respect of society, the Taiwan clouded leopards were completely exterminated. After 1983, despite all the tricks and night vision cameras, scientists have not been able to detect a single individual.
Source: wikipedia.org
Chinese river dolphin
Dolphins are called one of the smartest creatures on the planet, and they regularly confirm this title. In ancient China, dolphins were revered as river deities and hunting them was taboo. When the first individual was officially discovered in 1918 in the freshwater lake Dongtinghu of China, it was possible to predict that the history of these mammals was coming to an end. Massive poaching in a matter of decades reduced the population to a critical level and, in addition, forced the animals to change their habitat and populate areas unsuitable for habitation (for example, near a hydroelectric power station). As a result, already in 2007, the commission officially declared the Chinese river dolphins extinct.
Sturgeons, which appeared more than 250 million years ago, managed to outlive the dinosaurs, although they were clearly inferior in strength to the largest creatures in the world. But today, one of the oldest fish on the planet is on the verge of extinction - 5 out of 6 sturgeon species in Ukraine are endangered.
The situation is so critical that on May 24, a large-scale Animal Planet campaign, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Happy Paw Ukrainian charitable foundation, “Sturgeon Calls for Help” was launched in Ukraine to attract public attention to this problem. By common efforts, it is possible to save sturgeons from the fate of a dozen other animals that have disappeared without a trace over the past hundred years.
Three types of tigers
In the 20th century, three species of tigers disappeared at once. Javanese was one of the smallest subspecies - males weighed no more than 140 kg, and females - up to 115 kg, while, for comparison, their Amur relatives reach an average of 250 kg. But no matter how small the skin of a tiger, it is still of great value, therefore, due to poaching, by the 1950s, the population was reduced to 25 individuals, and in the mid-1980s, the last Javan tiger died.
According to one theory, the Javan and Bali tigers were the same species, but after the Ice Age they became isolated on two neighboring islands. The appearance of the Balinese predators also speaks in favor of this theory - they were also one of the smallest representatives of the species. The first tiger was killed in 1911, the animals were officially recognized as extinct already in 1937 - it took only 26 years to completely exterminate the subspecies.
The Caspian (Turanian, Transcaucasian) tiger, which lived in Central Asia, Iran and the Caucasus, was much larger and more massive than both the Balinese and Javanese subspecies, but this did not save him from the same fate. During the industrial development of Central Asia, this predator was completely destroyed. For this purpose, even entire battalions were organized, and by 1954 not a single individual remained.
Source: wikipedia.org
Two types of rhinos
The twenty-first century turned out to be the last for the two subspecies of rhinos. The black rhinoceros of West Africa, which lived mainly in Cameroon, completely disappeared in 2011. In 1930, he was taken under special protection, but such protective measures for poachers did not become a stop signal. The horns of these animals are too highly valued on the black market due to their healing properties, a myth and misconception that does not have any scientific evidence. Wealthy Arabs ordered dagger handles made of rhinoceros horn - this was considered a sign of wealth. Therefore, the extermination of animals has reached incredible proportions, especially in the 1970s. Considering that pregnancy in females lasts 16 months and only one cub is born, the population simply did not have time to recover. In the same 2011, the Vietnamese rhino, a subspecies of the Javanese, was officially recognized as extinct, living in Indochina (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia) and also becoming a victim of poaching.
Source: wikipedia.org
marsupial wolf
The most famous marsupials are kangaroos and koalas, some may have heard of wombats and opossums. If it were not for the aggressive intervention of man, unique marsupial predators would exist today in nature - the Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine. Their historical habitat is mainland Australia and New Zealand, later they were forced out from there by the introduced dingo dogs. Thylacines settled on the island of Tasmania, but even there the predators were not allowed to live in peace: in the early 30s of the 19th century, mass trapping and shooting of these animals began because of their alleged ferocity and bloodthirstiness, as well as because of the harm that they caused to sheep herds. Later, after the last individual died in 1936, scientists found that the jaws of the Tasmanian wolves were poorly developed, so they could not physically hunt sheep. In this regard, a reward of 1.25 million Australian dollars was awarded in 2005 for the capture of a live marsupial wolf, but over the past 12 years, there has been no evidence that thylacines miraculously survived in the dense forests of the island.
Source: wikipedia.org
Taiwan Clouded Leopard
The Taiwan clouded leopard is endemic to Taiwan (a species that lives exclusively on this island), an incredibly beautiful animal that looks like an ocelot, only larger. The unusual coloration made the skins of these predators a desirable trophy for the inhabitants of local tribes - such clothes emphasized their high social status. Moreover, killing a smoky one was considered a feat, and the hunter himself, who returned with valuable prey, was called a hero. Since everyone wants to become a hero and win the respect of society, the Taiwan clouded leopards were completely exterminated. After 1983, despite all the tricks and night vision cameras, scientists have not been able to detect a single individual.
Source: wikipedia.org
Chinese river dolphin
Dolphins are called one of the smartest creatures on the planet, and they regularly confirm this title. In ancient China, dolphins were revered as river deities and hunting them was taboo. When the first individual was officially discovered in 1918 in the freshwater lake Dongtinghu of China, it was possible to predict that the history of these mammals was coming to an end. Massive poaching in a matter of decades reduced the population to a critical level and, in addition, forced the animals to change their habitat and populate areas unsuitable for habitation (for example, near a hydroelectric power station). As a result, already in 2007, the commission officially declared the Chinese river dolphins extinct.
Over the past ten thousand years, human impact on the environment has led to the extinction of many beautiful animals. In this article, you will get acquainted with the facts about ten interesting creatures that have already disappeared. Animals died out en masse in two stages, the first was about ten thousand years ago, and the second - five hundred years ago. Many small animals died out each time, but incredible large creatures attract attention much more. Approximate date of its death is added to each extinct species.
These extinct giants once lived throughout northern Europe. They have little in common with currently existing moose species, which is why they are more commonly referred to as "giant deer". These animals could reach a two-meter span at the shoulders and weighed seven centners. They had large horns several meters wide. They appeared four hundred thousand years ago and disappeared five thousand years ago. Most likely, the hunters became the reason. However, it is also possible that the disappearance of ice led to the emergence of other plants, which caused a shortage of essential minerals. For example, for the growth of such impressive horns, a lot of calcium is required.
Quagga, 1883
Half zebra, half horse, this creature was a subspecies of the zebra that appeared about two hundred thousand years ago. They died out in the nineteenth century. Quaggas lived in South Africa and got their name because of the sound they produced, according to the onomatopic principle. They were destroyed in 1883 in order to acquire land for agriculture.
Japanese wolf, 1905
These wolves lived on several Japanese islands. It was the rarest species of the family, only a meter long and with a small shoulder span. When rabies appeared on the islands, the wolf population began to decline dramatically. They have become more aggressive towards people. As a result of deforestation and subsequent loss of their habitat, they came into contact with people more often, and they began to be purposefully destroyed until the last wolf was killed in 1905.
Giant penguin, 1852
These creatures were very similar to modern penguins. They swam well, accumulated fat for warmth, lived in large colonies and formed pairs for life. They had large curved beaks. Penguins could grow almost a meter tall and lived in the north Atlantic until the nineteenth century. People began to hunt them to stuff pillows with valuable feathers. Then they were caught to be used as bait for fishing, as well as for eating. When they became rare, museums and collectors wanted to collect stuffed animals, and so the penguins died out completely.
Turtles from Pinta Island, 2012
This subspecies of giant tortoises lived in the Galapagos. Turtles have been hunted since the nineteenth century, and in the fifties of the twentieth century, their habitat was destroyed. People tried to save the disappearing turtles, but by 1971 only one male remained, who was nicknamed Lonely George. Despite attempts to cross him with representatives of other species, no eggs appeared, and he himself died in 2012. He was the last of his kind.
Steller's sea cow, 1768
They were huge herbivorous marine mammals similar to seals. They were distinguished by giant sizes: they could reach nine meters in length. They were discovered by Georg Wilhelm Steller, but thirty years after the discovery they were already completely destroyed. This is because these animals were very calm and lived in shallow water. Their meat was eaten, the fat was used for food, and the skin was used for sheathing boats.
Smilodon, 10,000 BC
These saber-toothed cats lived in North and South America at the end of the Ice Age. They originated about two and a half million years ago. Large creatures could reach four hundred kilograms in weight, three meters in length and one and a half meters in shoulder span. Despite the fact that they were called tigers, they rather resembled bears. They had short and powerful legs, not designed for fast movement. The impressive incisors could reach thirty centimeters in length, but were fragile enough and were used to bite through the soft skin of the captured victim. Smilodons could open their mouths to one hundred and twenty degrees, but their bite was rather weak. Smilodons hunted large animals: bison, deer and small mammoths. It was difficult for them to catch smaller animals. The disappearance of smilodons is associated with the appearance in these regions of people who destroyed many species of animals.
Woolly mammoth, 2000 BC
Woolly mammoths lived in regions of the arctic tundra in the northern hemisphere. They could reach several meters in height and weighed six tons, as much as modern African elephants, although biologically they are closer to Asian ones. Unlike the latter, mammoths were covered with brown, black or red hair. In addition, they had short tails, which protected them from frostbite. Woolly mammoths had long tusks with which they fought. They were hunted by people, in addition, they used mammoth meat for food. However, it is most likely that these animals disappeared due to climate change at the end of the Ice Age. The retreat of the ice led to the disappearance of their habitat, and then the hunters completed what was happening. Most mammoths were already extinct ten thousand years ago, but small populations remained in remote regions for another six thousand years.
Moa, 1400
Moas were huge birds unable to fly. They lived in New Zealand. They could reach almost four meters in height and weighed two hundred and thirty kilograms. Despite the incredible growth, the structure of the spine of birds suggests that most of the time they stretched their necks forward. Thanks to such a neck, they most likely produced low vibrating sounds. Moas were hunted by other birds, as well as representatives of the Maori tribe. In less than a hundred years after the discovery, people completely destroyed these birds.
Tasmanian tiger, 1936
The Tasmanian tiger was the largest marsupial predator of our era, appearing four million years ago. They died out in the thirties of the last century due to the fault of farmers who destroyed them due to the fact that the animals allegedly killed sheep and chickens. In addition, agriculture has reduced their habitat, and the spread of dogs has led to the emergence of various diseases. Amazing creatures lived in Tasmania, Australia and New Guinea, they could reach almost two meters in length from head to tail. Tasmanian tigers were at the top of the food chain and hunted kangaroos, possums and birds at night. Their jaws could open one hundred and twenty degrees, and their stomachs stretched out for a huge amount of food, which allowed them to survive in sparsely populated regions. These were extremely unusual marsupials, since both females and males had a pouch. The latter used it to protect their genitals while running in the grass.
Worth remembering
Many amazing creatures, such as Javan and Caspian tigers or cave lions, were not included in this list. Of course, dodos also deserve mention. It is a tragic fact that the activities of mankind have led to the disappearance of so many beautiful animals. It's terrible that this continues to this day. Everyone knows the price of hunting, but people continue to destroy animals. One can only hope that the list will not be replenished soon with many other varieties of animals.