Rapid hunting and loss of their habitat due to human settlement led to a drastic reduction in their numbers. Human contacts conflicted with nature to bring about their extinction. They had legs much longer than other members of the tiger family. These tigers were the biggest cats on the planet. The Caspian Tiger resided just south of the Caspian Sea and in central Asia. Irish Elks evolved around 400,000 years ago and died out 5,000 years ago, most probably due to extensive hunting by humans. Hunting and climate change expedited their extinction at the end of the last glacial period.įrom Ireland to Siberia, Irish Elk populated much of northern Europe at the end of the last glacial period. They had the largest antlers of any deer species, that reached 12 feet in width. These elks could grow up to seven feet tall and were heavy animals with 700kg weight. The Woolly Mammoth had long tusks for fighting. However, they had bodies covered in brown, black, and ginger fur. These massive herbivores could reach 11 feet in height and weighed six tonnes, and resembled the African elephants. The Woolly Mammoth inhabited the arctic tundra regions of the northern hemisphere in the early Holocene period. From an astounding 3 to 5 billion population when the first Europeans arrived in America, it became zero-till 1914, when even the last known bird became dead. Passenger pigeons were rapidly wiped out due to merciless hunting, deforestation and other factors. The extinction of the passenger pigeon happened in just the last 50 years. They were bigger than normal pigeons and the male pigeons had a pinkish body and blue-grey head. It got its name due to the migratory habits of the species. The Passenger pigeon or the Wild pigeon is an extinct species of pigeon that was native to North America.
The loss of habitat due to industrial agriculture further resulted in their species becoming extinct. However, widespread sports hunting in the early 20th century resulted in a rapid decline of this rhino species. They had a hooked upper lip that distinguished them from other rhinos. It was commonly found in several African countries, including Kenya, Rwanda, and Zambia. They were big and bulky but could run up to 55 km/hour and quickly change direction. The Western Black Rhino was the rarest of the black rhino subspecies. Sadly enough, the last captive Quagga died in Europe in the 1880s.Īlso Read: Top 10 Animals Beginning With the Letter T Ruthless hunting and planned extermination by colonists lead to the Quagga’s extinction. The Quagga inhabited the desert areas of South Africa until it was hunted to extinction in the 1870s. Its body had stripes on its head and neck that faded as they went down on the animal’s brown body. It was a species that looked like a cross between a horse and a zebra. The Quagga is a mammal closely related to modern horses and zebras. Dodos had a pale yellow or green, curved beak that was their only defence.
The bird grew up to about three feet tall, with downy grey feathers and a white plume. The dodo was a large and heavy bird that had wings but was unable to swim or fly. The life for the dodo came to an abrupt end in the 1600s, when European explorers landed on Mauritius, and the Dutch sailors ate the beast to extinction. The dodo was a flightless bird that was native to Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. Let us go through the top 10 extinct animals that once walked the surface of our earth, but have now said their final goodbyes. The population of several animals has become endangered, while some are nearing extinction, allowing to changes and reduction in natural habitat, loss of forest cover, industrialization, hunting, and poaching. The West Virginian woodland bison, Arizona’s Merriam’s Elk, the Rocky Mountain grasshopper, Passenger pigeon, and Puerto Rico’s Culebra parrot are all animals of the past now. In the past centuries, about 1,000 species have become extinct.
They have been on our planet for millions of years, but sadly, some species have officially vanished forever. Extinction is a natural phenomenon, and scientists estimate we lose several species in a year due to natural as well as man-made factors.
We have been blessed with thousands of species of unique animals and birds all around us.
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