People don't always have great self-control, especially when things seem generous and delicious. Extinction is always a complex phenomenon, but the extinction of some species can be almost directly related to modern humans' insatiable appetites. Read this article to discover the animals lost to our senseless exploitation.
Woolly Mammoth - Mammuthus primigenius
The woolly mammoth is the best known of all mammoth species, thanks to a series of well-preserved frozen carcasses in Siberia. These giant animals went extinct about 7,500 years ago when the last ice age ended. There is no doubt that climate change played a significant role in their extinction, but recent research suggests that humans may also have been the driving force, or at least the ultimate cause, of their extinction. Masu. Massive hunting and the stress of global warming are a deadly combination, and it appears even the mightiest mammoths may not be able to keep up with human appetites in a changing world.
Great Auk - Pinguinus
The great auk is a flightless seabird that breeds in colonies on rocky islands in the North Atlantic: St. Kilda, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Funk Island off the coast of Newfoundland. The bird was approximately 75 centimeters (30 inches) long and had short wings used for swimming underwater. Completely defenseless, great auks were killed by predatory hunters for food and bait, especially in his early 19th century. Huge numbers of birds were captured by sailors, who often drove them along the planks and slaughtered them on the way into the hold. The last known specimen was killed on the island of Eldei in Iceland in June 1844 for a museum collection.
Eurasian Aurochs - Bos primigenius primigenius
One of the ancestors of modern cattle, the aurochs is a large wild cattle that once lived in the steppes of Europe, Siberia and Central Asia. Boasting his 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall at the shoulder and powerful forward-curving horns, the Eurasian aurochs was known for its aggressive temperament and was competed as a sport in ancient Roman arenas. . As a wild animal, the aurochs was heavily hunted and gradually became locally extinct in many areas of its range. By the 13th century, the population had declined significantly and hunting rights were restricted to the nobility and royal families of Eastern Europe. Only 38 aurochs were recorded by gamekeepers during the Royal Survey of 1564, and the last known Eurasian aurochs was a female who died of natural causes in Poland in 1627.
Passenger Pigeon - Ectopistes migratorius
Passenger pigeons were once famous for migrating in large flocks that darkened the skies for days, but they were hunted to extinction in the early 1900s. These social birds once lived in the billions of eastern North America and resembled the pigeon in appearance. As American settlers moved westward, millions of passenger pigeons were slaughtered for meat each year and transported by rail cars for sale in urban markets. Hunters often raided nesting sites, wiping out entire colonies in a single breeding season. After 1870, the species declined rapidly, and several attempts to breed them in captivity were unsuccessful. The last known passenger pigeon named Martha died on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio.
Steller’s Sea Cow - Hydrodamalis gigas
In 1741, German naturalist Georg W. The giant manatee once lived in the coastal areas of the Commando Islands in the Bering Sea. Much larger than modern manatees and dugongs, the giant manatee reached a body length of 9 to 10 meters (more than 30 feet) and a weight of about 10 tons (22,000 pounds). These huge, docile animals swam in coastal waters, but unfortunately had little ability to dive. As a result, Russian seals were prized as a source of meat on long voyages, making them easy targets for seal harpoons. Kills were often in vain, and the species became extinct in 1768, less than 30 years after it was first discovered. There are currently no copies left in existence.
Dodo - Raphus cucullatus
It is said to be "dead like a dodo." These flightless ground-nesting birds were once abundant on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The dodo was larger than a turkey, weighing about 23 kg (about 50 lb), with blue-gray plumage and a large head. Lacking natural predators, the Portuguese sailors who discovered it around 1507 were unimpressed with the bird. These sailors and those who followed quickly decimated the dodo population as they used it as an easy source of fresh meat for their voyages. Later, monkeys, pigs and rats were introduced to the island, but the results were disastrous for the birds, who weakened while the mammals ate their delicate eggs. The last Dodo was killed in 1681. Unfortunately, there are few scientific descriptions or museum specimens.