Which animals have disappeared forever in recent years?
Not so long ago, they were active in the world, but now they are gone forever as a species. Even more alarming is the fact that more than 1 million species are currently threatened with extinction.
Functional extinction of dugongs
Dugong [pronounced rú gèn] is known as the gentlest giant in the ocean and is the source of the ancient legend of the "mermaid". The latest scientific research shows that due to environmental pollution and habitat destruction, the dugong along the coast of China has been functionally extinguished, which means that the species has lost its ability to sustain reproduction macroscopically, but it is not to confirm that the last individual has died. Dugongs are vegetarian vertebrates whose main food is seagrass. The number of dugongs in China peaked around 1960 and then declined sharply, and in 1988 it was listed as a nationally protected animal.
Pinta Giant Tortoise "Lonely George"
This turtle is named George Lonely, and its hometown of Pinta is in the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. From the 19th century onwards, they became food for whalers and traders, and later on the islands where they lived, large areas of forest were cut down, and eventually the turtles lost their basis for survival. In 2012, Lonely George, who has become a symbol of his hometown, bid farewell to the world as the last member of his colony.
Coral naked-tailed rat
Coral naked-tailed rats were declared extinct in 2019 due to climate change caused by human activities. As the ocean temperature rises and the sea washes away large areas of vegetation, the habitats and food on which these animals depend disappear, and so do the animals. Coral bare-tailed rats have been living on Bramble Cay, at the northern tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is isolated from other reefs.
Yangtze River white dolphin
Pictured here is a Chinese white dolphin, a species that still exists, but a very similar-looking animal, the white dolphin, has not been seen in 20 years. It is endemic to Freshwater Whales in China. In 2019, the white-sided dolphin was declared extinct. China's rapid industrialization in the 20th century led to a sharp decline in the number of baiji dolphins living in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but has not recovered.
Blue macaw
In 2011, the 3D cartoon Rio Adventure made the blue macaw an overnight success, and its English name is Spix's macaw. The last wild Spixer macaw was seen in Brazil in 2016 and declared extinct in the wild in 2019, but about 160 were kept in captivity. It is hoped that captive-reared them will one day return to the wildness of the population.
Western black rhinoceros
Large-scale poaching in the 19th and 20th centuries led to a rapid decline in the population of the African black rhinoceros, the rarest subspecies of the black rhino species. It was listed as an endangered animal in 2008 and declared extinct in 2011. No animal protection group is currently trying to artificially keep western black rhinos in captivity, which means that the disappearance of western black rhinos will be permanent.
Ivory-beaked woodpecker
The ivory-beaked woodpecker was once the largest woodpecker in North America. In 2021, the U.S. government's Wildlife Service proposed declaring the species extinct. Censorship and judgment are still ongoing, but the last time an ivory-beaked woodpecker was observed was in 1987.
