A History of Overexploited Extinct

and Nearly Extirpated Species

BIOL437/637

22 January 2015

Dodo

1598: Dutch settle Mauritius as penal colony

History’s first extinction Last seen: 1681

Model

Incompleteskeleton

New Zealand Moa

11 spp. Total N 160,000 Killed off within 100

years of Maori arrival– 13th and 14th centuries

Madagascar’s Giant Elephant Bird

Colonized 1500-2000 ya Rapidly lost giant

elephant birds, hippos, giant tortoises, and three ground-dwelling lemurs

– All large animals except crocodiles

Decimation of theHawaiian Avifauna

111 native species when Polynesians came ~2000 ya

63 extinct– 23 since first Europeans– 30 of remaining 48

endangered

Steller’s Sea Cow

Discovered in Bering Sea in 1741

Extinct, 1768

Warrah (Falklands Fox)

“Their numbers have rapidly decreased…. Within a very few years after these islands shall have become regularly settled, in all probability this fox will be classed with the dodo.”

– C. Darwin, 1845– (He was right—1876)

Thylacine (= Tasmanian Tiger)

Marsupial “wolf” 1905: 100 bounties

paid 1909: 2 bounties 1930: last shooting of a

wild specimen 1936: last captives

died

Thylacine Hunters on Tasmania

Quagga

Southern Africa 1878: Extinct in wild

due to white hunters with rifles

1883: Last captive died in Amsterdam Zoo

Passenger Pigeon

Massive, commercially-driven extermination

Once ~5 billion birds Last wild bird shot in

March 1900 Cincinnati Zoo

specimens lived to 1913 (George) and 1914 (Martha)

Passenger Pigeon Slaughter

Great Auk

Once ranged from Iceland to FL

Slaughtered for feathers and oil

1844: last two killed on islet off Iceland

Funk Island Slaughtering Grounds

Northeast of Newfoundland

Ivorybill Woodpecker

Decline mainly due to loss of bottomland forests of SE

– Beak sold as keychain trinket

– As species declined, scientists collected as many as they could

Studied by Tanner in LA, 1935-41

Tanner’s Ivorybill Photos

HANDOUTIvorybill Sightings

Carolina Parakeet

Native to SE U.S.– Outliers in NY, WI, CO

Farmers, orchard owners, plume collectors, and egg collectors drove it extinct

1904: last wild specimens taken in KS

– Rumored sightings through the 1930s (FL and SC)

Heath Hen

Eastern subspecies of greater prairie chicken

Ranged from ME to NC Extirpated by hunters from

the mainland by about 1870, and survived only on Martha’s Vineyard, MA

Heath Hen onMartha’s Vineyard

1907: MA established a refuge for 45-60 birds

1916: up to 2000– Fire burned 20% of the island– Influx of goshawks

1917: 126 survivors– Slow, inexplicable decline

1925: last chicks 1928: two males 1932: last male killed by a car

Labrador Duck

1878: last specimen shot in Elmira, NY

– 1891: Unconfirmed sighting along Grand River, Labrador

“Poor-man’s poultry” Males went to

collectors rather than to markets

Atlantic Gray Whale

Only cetacean taxon driven extinct Other large whales and 1900s “factory” whaling:

– Blue: 99% reduction (210,000 to 2,300)– Fin: 77% reduction (200,000 to 45,000)– Atlantic right: Untold thousands to ~500

American Bison

60-75 million, from MA to GA across Great Plains to PNW, north into w Canada and perhaps AK

Extinct east of Mississippi River by early 1800s

Exterminated in the Great Plains

– “Sport hunters”– Tongue and robe collectors– Extermination of the Plains

Native Americans

American Bison

1892: 541 on private ranches

Yellowstone: ~200 in 1872

– 1900: 20−25 due to poaching

Only other wild population in n. Alb.

– Wood Buffalo National Park

Today: ~200,000

HANDOUTMattson and Merrell 2002

California Golden Bear

Blonde subspecies numbered 10,000

Extinct by 1920s

Gray Wolves

1980: Exterminated in Lower 48 except for 1500-2000 wolves in MN, WI, and upper MI

Up to 2500 in MN– Spreading into Dakotas– More numerous in WI and

upper MI 1980s: Recolonized w MT 1990s: Reintroduced to ec ID

and nw WY

Red Wolves

1980: extinct in wild Reintroduced to the

Alligator River NWR, NC

Failed reintroduction in Great Smoky Mtns National Park

Black-footed Ferret

98% reduction in favorite prey, black-tailed prairie dogs

Feared extinct until ~130 found near Meeteetse, WY, in 1981

Distemper epidemic—18 survivors

Bred prolifically in captivity Reintroduction underway

– WY, SD, MT, AZ, CO, UT, KS, NM, MX, SK

Population RecoveryAfter Cessation ofOverexploitation

Northern Elephant Seal

1900: ~20 Today: ~150,000

White Rhino

1900: ~50 Today: 17,000

Wild Turkey

1940s: extinct in 81% of its range

From low of 38,000 to >12 million today

Vicuña

1970: ~8000 Today: ~200,000

– Trade in fleece ($250/lb.) reinstated

White-tailed Deer (KY)

1927: <1000 in 4 of the 120 counties

Today: 690,000