5 ms·
The death of a (sub-)species. We are destined to see more of this in our lifetimes, given how some people treat the natural world and our animal kingdom neighb
by sbarre 9y ago
The death of a (sub-)species.
We are destined to see more of this in our lifetimes, given how some people treat the natural world and our animal kingdom neighbours..
Other sub-species of rhinos, and even elephants, may not be far behind.
But we are making progress. In the 1980s, it is estimated that over 600,000 elephants were killed by poachers in less than 10 years.
We are now "down" to 20,000 killed per year by poaching. But sadly, this is still more than are actually born in a year, so it's not quite enough progress, and there is still much work to be done.
If you feel like supporting conservation and education efforts to help with this progress, here are a few places to start:
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust[0], The Amboseli Trust[1], Save the Rhino[2], and of course the World Wildlife Fund[3] if you want to support conservation in a broader sense.
0: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/ https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
1: https://www.elephanttrust.org/ https://www.elephanttrust.org/
2: https://www.savetherhino.org/ https://www.savetherhino.org/
3: https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=main_monthly&s_src=AWE1806OQ18299A01179RX https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=...
- ajeet_dhaliwal 9y agoI was at the Natural History Museum in London on Saturday and astounded to learn the Mastodon was still around 13,000 years ago. I started looking online and realized that many of these animals I thought were super prehistoric are more recent that I thought, including the Mammoth (present until 4,500 years ago). The plaque suggested a bunch of reasons for the Mastodon extinction but one of them included hunting. We (our species) have been at this for a long time. Perhaps if the Earth was far larger they would stand a better chance.
- sametmax 9y agoI always though Giants animals have been on earth longer than we though and were the sources of our legend such as as dragons or sea monsters.
- caf 9y agoWell, the largest animal known to have ever existed is still around today.
- aunty_helen 9y agoFor a more recent example, the Moa of New Zealand went extinct only a few hundred years after human arrival. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-moas-go-extinct http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/03/why-did-new-zealands-...
- vincnetas 9y agoAlso the famous Dodo : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo
- wingspar 9y agoMore recently, the North American passenger pigeon. Billions to extinct in 19th century... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
- jwilk 9y agoNon-mobile link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pigeon
- onychomys 9y agoTwentieth century, as Martha (probably the last member of the species, although the standard post-extinction cryptic sightings continued into the 1930s) died in 1914. If anybody wants to read an extremely complete book on the subject, it's hard to do better than A Feathered River Across The Sky[0]. It's well written and the science is sound. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Feathered-River-Across-Sky-Extinction/dp/1620405342 https://www.amazon.com/Feathered-River-Across-Sky-Extinction...
- reitanqild 9y agoI was about to mention the Great Auk [0] but realized while reading up on it that scientists have started asking questions about the previously official sad story that I heard as a child. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_auk
- gaius 9y agoYes, Mammoths were alive at the time the Pyramids were built. Kinda mind-blowing.
- ataturk 9y agoJust because a plaque says "hunting" doesn't make it true, though. Everything you see and read is canted by someone else's opinion or agenda. Everything. The cultural warriors have left no stone un-turned in their battle to belittle and subjugate humanity.
- peterwwillis 9y agoAnother interesting one gone: Aurochs, larger ancestors of domestic cattle, died out in 1627. They were famous in Greek myths and used in Roman arenas. Elasmotherium, a sort of furry rhino, died out about 10,000 years ago, and could have inspired tales of Unicorns or other mythical beasts. Aepyornis - The Elephant Bird (9.8ft tall, 880lbs) died out in the 11th century, and Dromornis was even taller. Quagga, a subspecies of Zebra, went extinct in the 19th century. Many animals may have been spared extinction by humans due to the fact that the western world thought they were myths, until late in the second millennium AD when furthering exploration brought back evidence of their existence. Among them: tigers, komodo dragons, giant squid, giraffe, pandas, gorillas.
- setr 9y agoDromornis was prehistoric, and would never have encountered humans, according to wikipedia https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornis https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornis
- lainga 9y agoYuval Noah Hariri's Sapiens devotes several pages to the extinctions of various prehistoric species in the Americas and Australia, and how they all seem to curiously line up with the first signs of human migration. Only African species evolved around early apes and hominids, and learned to fear their wiles. Our current mass extinction is rivaled by the spear-y wave of death that followed humans' advance out of Africa.
- olliej 9y agoTasmanian tiger is still one I’m sad about. The video of the last one in a zoo makes me so sad :( New Zealand also has some horrifying stories (the last group of a thought to be extinct bird was killed by a lighthouse owners cat after he’d sent one to be identified. I hate cats.)
- tosser0004 9y agoWith Sub-saharan Africa’s population alone projected to rise by 3.5 billion to over 4.5 billion by the end of the century I share your concern. Europe and North American need to begin planning now for dealing with the migrant crisis which is just now in its very earliest stages. The environmental impact in Africa would otherwise be deviatating. I have to expect upwards of a billion people from this region will need to migrate to Europe and probably an even higher number to the Americas.
- FranzFerdiNaN 9y agoAmerica and Europe will sooner turn to fascism (which is already happening in a lot of nations) as a way to keep it's borders closed than allow a billion people into their nations. I fully expect a closed-off Europe with a new Iron Curtain within a few decades. And Trump's wall will also have been built by then.
- ekianjo 9y ago> fascism You have a specific definition of fascism in mind? Because closing one's frontiers is not really the only variable to look at it.
- lucozade 9y agoI appreciate that no-one uses fascism to mean fascism anymore but it's not clear what you're using the term to mean. Do you mean anti-immigration?
- vog 9y ago[deleted]
- kbutler 9y agoDefinition of fascism 1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition 2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control early instances of army fascism and brutality —J. W. Aldridge
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]