Lost Forever: Caribbean Monk Seal

Its time to look backwards at the animals of the past that couldn’t quite survive into our present. This week we will be looking into the Caribbean Monk Seal (Neomonachus tropcicalis) and what ultimately led to its extinction.
The Caribbean Monk Seal went extinct in 1952 with the last confirmed sighting off Serranilla Bank. These seals used to inhabit the Caribbean Sea and they were the first type of seal to go extinct from human causes.

HABITAT & DIET
They could be found in the water around rocky or sandy coastline and islands which they used for resting and breeding. Their diet is unknown but was believed to be eels, lobsters, octopus and reef fish.

MAJOR THREATS

The only known predators of the Caribbean Monk Seal were sharks and humans. They were hunted for their skins and oil and were also put in danger due to the fishing industry. It was ultimately the tough pressures from humans that led to their extinction.

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Sources:

• IUCN Red List
• sciencedaily
• monachus-guardian

Images courtesy of:

• Wikipedia
• Carnivora forum

Lost Forever/Animals We’ll Never See Again: Great Auk

The Great Auk (Pinguinis impennis) was a large, flightless bird that went extinct in 1844 when the last known specimens were killed on the 3rd July at Eldey Island, Iceland. The nearest living relative of the Great Auk is the Razorbill.

 

HABITAT AND DIET
Historically, the Great Auk only bred on remote, rocky islands. Young birds fed on plankton, while the adults dived for fish.

 

MAJOR THREATS
Great Auks were hunted for their feathers, meat, fat and oil. As the birds became more scarce, early conservations believed that the collecting of specimens was necessary to help save the species. Unfortunately, this specimen collecting was what lead to the ultimate demise of the Great Auk.

In remembrance of the errors that early conservationists made, the peer reviewed academic journal of the American Ornithologists Union is named the Auk.

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Sources:

• IUCN Red List
• National Geographic
• Newton (1885)
• Brikhead (1994)

Images courtesy of :

• Wikipedia
• A Field Guide to Extinct Birds

Lost Forever/Animals We’ll Never See Again: Passenger Pigeon

From a conservation point of view, looking to the past is as important as looking to the future. Reminiscing about the past can help humankind to ensure that the same fate doesn’t happen to other species.

This installment of Lost Forever is looking at the decline of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorious). What’s unique about the downfall of this species is that the Passenger Pigeon was once one of the world’s most abundant bird species. The Passenger Pigeon was once found in the forests of Canada and the USA and they occasionally wandered further south in Mexico and Cuba. This species was nomadic; breeding and foraging in vast flock compromised of millions of birds. They nested in between the months of April and May and were classed as a Full Migrant.

 

Records suggest that the last wild bird was shot in 1900; while the last captive bird died in 1914 in Cincinnati Zoo. There is no solid evidence about what factor was to blame for the rapid decline of the Passenger Pigeon but there were several at play. The widespread clearance of hardwood trees drastically reduced the food for the pigeons, young birds were taken from the wild and sold, there was excessive shooting of individuals and Newcastle disease could also have been to blame. More than likely the rapid decline was a combination of all these factors interacting with one another to have a dramatic effect of the survival of the Passenger Pigeon.

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Sources

• Bucher, 1992
• Wilcove, 1989. In memory of Martha and her kind
• IUCN Red List