This article is titled Where Are We Going? Animal Endangered Signs", Part II.
This article is from the Beijing News Book Review Weekly feature "Where Are We Going?" on May 5, 2023. B04 in Animal Endangered Signs.
No matter how many species die out as a result of atmospheric changes in nature, we cannot deny that a large proportion of species extinctions are still entirely caused by human activities. Although nature itself is not static, it has its own elimination and evolution of survival rules, but this can not become a fig leaf for human destruction of the ecological environment, it is we who have turned the slow and magical changes in nature that took centuries or even thousands of years in the past into a building block city that we can arbitrarily smear, and we almost never realize what kind of impact the random withdrawal of a building block will have on this huge building.
Faced with the advent of humans, almost all animals were caught off guard. The different personalities of each creature do not help them to fight or coexist peacefully with humans. Some of the animals that have been extinct in the past few centuries are caused by the times, and some fierce wild creatures are inherently aggressive to humans, and for their own living space, former humans had to use hunting methods to ensure the life safety of their society. However, a docile personality does not become an umbrella for animals. More animals are also entirely because their personalities are too docile, easy to catch, and not aggressive towards humans, thus becoming collectibles for human plunder, and even an ingredient in the various recipes of humans.
It seems that in the face of human society, only the option of domestication is left for animals. The idea that animals are human companions is problematic because it potentially screens out animals that are unlikely to be human friends — like piranas or spiders. Animals that have been domesticated and integrated into human society have been endowed with a unified function, some are classified as pets, some are classified as poultry and livestock, and it is difficult for us to have a sense of wonder in the face of nature. The point of our conservation of species is not that we want to maintain a very diverse zoo in nature, we need to realize that this thing is a separate meaning in itself.
Edward Wilson counted the effects of humans on species based on research. In the Eden era, the average rate of extinction was one in a million per year (during which there were occasional mass extinction events caused by natural disasters and other causes); But by the 19th century, the extinction rate had risen to one in 100,000; Then the extinction rate of species in the 20th century approached one in 10,000. According to the results of the Red Book published by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), the annual extinction rate in the 21st century has reached one in a thousand. More and more species are completely disappearing due to the wanton destruction of the environment by humans.
The rate at which species are disappearing is staggering. In 1987, hundreds of thousands of golden toads ready to mate were still seen in the mountains, but by the second year, researchers could only find 5 golden toads, and in the third year, the golden toads were extinct. The Australian endemic northern gastric creek frog was discovered as a new species in January 1984 and became extinct just four months later. Shaw's butterflies, which once spread throughout Florida, USA, are now only a small group of artificially bred in university research institutes because of agricultural pesticides. Vancouver Island marmots have been forced to live on the hillsides when humans developed forestry and cut down forests, and they still adhere to the habit of their ancestors digging holes to live, and eventually their number dropped to only 70. The ancient species represented by a snail named "Taki" is still doomed to extinction despite the desperate rescue of humans, and with the death of "Taki" in the breeding park, the staff can only leave its race with such a monument:
Born in 1.5 million BC, died January 1996.
The picture shows the shell left by the "Tower Base"
Haast eagle (extinct around 1500)
After the extinction of moas, its former natural enemy, the Haast eagle, also became extinct. The Haast eagle is most likely the largest carnivorous bird ever recorded, and later found fossils proved that the Haast eagle could reach a wingspan of up to 3.5 meters. The only remaining Haast eagle on the island of New Zealand is the absolute top predator in the region, they only need to attack from the air to easily hunt a moa, and there is nothing humans can do in the face of this aerial behemoth. But as humans killed moas, the Haast eagle lost an ample source of food. Eventually, the world's largest carnivorous bird also disappeared from the face of the earth altogether. The last Haast eagle most likely died of starvation.
Moa (extinct around 1500)
Moa birds are once endemic to New Zealand and are large and diverse, ranging in size from 1 to 3 metre. On the island of New Zealand, the large moa bird has few natural predators – except for the Haast eagle. However, with the landing of the Polynesians, humans found that moa birds that were not good at running, had strong thigh muscles, and a large number were simply a gift from heaven. Archaeologists have found a large number of moa skeletons in the garbage dump sites of New Zealand's early inhabitants, and tens of millions of moa birds have been killed by humans, leaving not a single moa. It took only a few short decades for moas to go from widespread New Zealand to complete extinction.
Bering cormorant (extinct in 1850)
Bering cormorants' meat quality is not very popular and should not be hunted on a large scale, but they are one of the few game meat in the Aleutian Islands that can be used as food during the global colonization of mankind. This led to a rapid decline in their numbers, eventually officially extinct in 1850.
Dodo (extinct in 1681)
The dodo is a symbolic extinction species – and of course for the dodo, its fame today is undoubtedly a tragic consequence. When the dodo was first discovered by humans, the sailors who landed on the island couldn't help but laugh, and the funny, fat, flightless, and unresponsive birds were so slow that humans called them "foolish doves" and "nature's mistakes" and even "degrading things." People hunt this "walking chicken thigh" in large quantities on the island of Mauritius, and some people want to buy live dodo as pets or exhibits. Unfortunately, none of these attempts succeeded, and the unresponsive "fools" showed tenacious resistance to the domestication of humans. In 1681, the last dodo disappeared. In 1801, the dodo was officially confirmed to be extinct. Since not a single specimen remained, museums began to search for the remaining dodo bones. Since then, people have begun to officially become aware of the topic of species extinction.
Pasteurized prairie (extinct around 1985)
The genus once included more than 200 species of fish, but the vast majority of them are now extinct. The extinction of the prairie is entirely caused by the random introduction of alien species by humans and the pollution of waters. Carnivorous fish were introduced into Lake Victoria and wastewater was discharged into the lake, leading to eutrophication and hypoxia. In deeper waters, there are more fish that have disappeared before humans can observe.
Cave bear (extinct 25,000 years ago)
The massive cave bear is one of the prehistoric behemoths, and its extinction can be said to be more due to natural factors. Cave bears, which once lived with Neanderthals, coincided with a recent ice age, and climate change has made it more difficult for cave bears to forage. Adult cave bears can stand up to 3.5 meters tall, which is also one of the threats to human survival in the wild. The combination of many factors makes the survival of cave bears increasingly difficult. However, compared to human influences, temperature changes during thousands of years of ice age are the main factors that have led to the significant decline in cave bear populations.
Antarctic wolf (extinct in 1876)
We often use the term "wolf ambition" to describe the undomesticability of wolves, but the Antarctic wolf is a counterexample. They had a strong curiosity about humans and had successfully domesticated one of them when the first crew landed in the Malvinas Islands and carried it with them. In 1765, the ancestors of the English poet Byron also arrived on the island by boat, and the Antarctic wolves on the island went to the sea to welcome humans, but the human response was to set fire to the plants on the island and the nests of the Antarctic wolves. Locals also like to take advantage of the docile and pleasant character of Antarctic wolves, lure Antarctic wolves with food, wait for them to get close, and then hack them to death with machetes, easily obtaining the fur of Antarctic wolves. Eventually, people even began to kill Antarctic wolves by poisoning, which eventually led to their extinction in 1876.
Japanese sea lions (extinct during World War II)
Until the 19th century, Japanese sea lions were still found in large numbers on the seashores of Japan and Korea, and even in the early 20th century, Japanese sea lions were some distance from extinction, despite a sharp decline in numbers due to hunting and circus performances. However, World War II completely destroyed this species. Underwater battles destroyed the living environment of Japanese sea lions, and North Korean soldiers used sea lions as targets to practice shooting, and after 1951, no evidence of the existence of Japanese sea lions was found. In 1990, the International Union for Conservation of Nature officially declared the species extinct.
Labrador duck (extinct in 1875)
The Labrador duck is a species that has been indirectly affected by humans to cause extinction. After the American colonists opened Long Island, the locals tried to hunt Labrador duck and make it into human recipes, but they did not expect that the meat of this duck was quite unpalatable, and it could not be sold until the duck meat rotted, so the locals quickly gave up hunting this duck. It stands to reason that without human hunting, the survival of Labrador ducks would not have gone extinct even if they were affected. However, the Labrador duck on Long Island went extinct in 1875. Due to its age and scarcity of information, we cannot determine the cause of the Labrador duck's extinction, but can only speculate based on its body structure that factory pollution caused the mollusk to decline, so that the Labrador duck could not find enough food and became extinct.
Powderhead duck (extinct in 1949)
The head of the pink-headed duck is as elegant as a flamingo, making it a rare animal in Southeast Asia. The cause of its extinction is still a mystery, and the locals did not hunt the duck for food, and even actively bred the duck for landscaping. At present, it can only be speculated that the extinction of the species was due to the destruction of habitats.
Donkey (extinct in 1883)
The donkey's epitaph is: I refuse to obey.
In human history, horses were tamed early on as a means of transportation for humans, however, the zebra subspecies, the zebra subspecies, the donkey, refused to accept this fate. South African immigrants have tried to tame the donkey and let it pull a cart to enter human society, but the nature of the donkey makes them constantly resist. Humans tried to protect them in zoos, but at London Zoo in the 19th century, the last spotted donkey stallion, in depression and anger, chose to rush to the enclosure to commit suicide. Since then, this creature whose soul belongs only to the wilderness has completely disappeared from the earth.
Cape lion (extinct in 1865)
Cape lion used to be a nightmare for South African colonists, this lion character is extremely fierce, after seeing humans will not hesitate to step forward to attack, but the fierce character of the Cape lion does not make humans retreat, but inspires many adventurers to have the inner "courage". Many adventurers take the hunt of an Cape lion as the supreme hunter glory. In 1865, the last Cape lion was hunted in the Natal region.
Laughing owl (extinct in 1914)
The Maori people of New Zealand once recorded the sight of laughing owls, and at night, the whole forest resounded with human-like laughter, like a concert. The laughing owl has a peculiar call, like a person laughing, and its character is also very docile, almost directly domesticated after being captured by humans, at the mercy of others, without resistance. This cute character made a large number of people want to own a laughing owl as a pet, and coupled with the sharp decline of wild prey, by 1914, people could only find the last laughing owl carcass in the wild.
Jamaican giant grass lizard (extinct in 1840)
Lizards are going extinct much more frequently than tigers or rhinos, but they don't get much attention. The extinction of the Jamaican giant grass lizard was the result of a species invasion, and the Jamaican giant grass lizard was also affected by the introduction of mongoose in response to the venomous snakes on the island. Locals also believe that this lizard is highly poisonous and will die if bitten, which also makes it difficult for Jamaican giant grass lizards to survive in human society, but the folk saying that Jamaican giant grass lizards are highly poisonous is completely false.
Thylacine (extinct in 1936)
The thylacine was once Australia's iconic animal, but its attack on sheep at night led Australians in the 20th century to slaughter thylacines with a bounty. The largest carnivorous marsupial to survive in modern times plummeted, and by 1936, when the government remembered to list it as a protected animal, the thylacine was completely extinct.
Japanese wolf (extinct in 1905)
The fate of Japanese wolves has gone through glory and troughs. In Japanese folklore, the Japanese wolf is a mysterious creature that many people in Japan regard as a local deity or protector. However, since the Meiji Restoration, more and more people have abandoned traditional practices after accepting scientific concepts, and in order to protect agricultural and residential areas, the Japanese government offered rewards for wolf extermination and launched a poisoning campaign, which made the Japanese wolf, once a protective deity, forever a constellation beyond the earth in 1905.
Javan rhinoceros (near future)
The situation of all rhinos is needless to say, and extreme environmental groups have to send people to cut off their horns in the wild, thereby depriving them of economic value and at least avoiding the killing of poachers. Humans use rhino horn to make medicinal herbs and aphrodisiacs, or simply to complete an art collection. At present, the fate of the Javan rhino is the least optimistic, two of its subspecies have become extinct, and the last Vietnamese Javan rhinos are still being hunted by poachers after they were rediscovered and put into national parks for protection. There are only 50 Sumatran Javan rhinos left on the planet, and although they have been thoroughly protected, the slow rate of reproduction and environmental influences make it highly likely that the last remaining Javan rhinos will become extinct in the future.
Eden Age Extinction Rate: 1 in a million
19th century species extinction rate: 1 in 100,000
Species extinction rate in the 20th century: 1 in 10,000
21st century extinction rate: ??? (Up to us)
Written by Collation / Miyako
Editors/Zhang Jin, Wang Han
Proofreader/Xue Jingning