Top 50 Recent Animal Extinctions

Earth is currently undergoing its sixth mass extinction event, losing species at a rate up to 100 times higher than normal background levels. In just the last 500 years of human expansion and population growth, over 350 vertebrate species have been driven into extinction.
Here is a short description of 50 of Earth’s most iconic animal extinctions since 1500 AD, spanning mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.

Alaotra Grebe

This small waterbird was endemic to Madagascar’s Lake Alaotra and surrounding wetlands. Due to 20th century habitat disturbance caused by local rice farming, floating vegetation mats where it nested were lost. Carnivorous introduced fish also ate its young. Conservation efforts came too late, with the last confirmed Alaotra grebe dying in 1982. Recent surveys rediscovered the marshes it once inhabited, but found no traces left of the extinct grebe. However, a related grebe species still clings to survival on Lake Alaotra, benefiting from continuing habitat protection efforts.

Atitlán Giant Grebe

Discovered in 1958 and restricted to Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán, this grebe grew up to 5 feet tall with a wingspan over 7 feet across. It rapidly declined due to threats from non-native fish that ate its chicks and pollution that smothered nesting plants lining the lakeshore. After a failed captive breeding program, the Atitlán giant grebe disappeared by the late 1980s when the last wild bird vanished from the lake that was its namesake. Its extinction underscored the vulnerability of large, low-reproducing bird species.

Atitlán Grebe

Discovered in 1958 and named after Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán, this pied-billed grebe rapidly slipped into extinction over the next 30 years. Introduced black bass decimated native fish the grebes depended on. Meanwhile pollution from agrochemical runoff as well as expanding lakeshore settlement destroyed nesting habitat in fertile wetland vegetation surrounding the scenic lake. Despite establishing a refuge, the last Atitlán grebe perished in 1989, representing the first documented extinction of a bird species from water pollution.

Baiji (Yangtze River Dolphin)

The Baiji was a long-beaked freshwater dolphin found only in China’s Yangtze River. As Asia’s first dolphin driven to extinction due to human activity, the baiji population rapidly declined from thousands to a few hundred by the late 20th century. The construction of dams drowned baiji habitat and boat traffic drowned the mammals directly via propeller strikes. Industrial and agricultural runoff also poisoned their last refuge. Despite protection efforts, the baiji was declared functionally extinct after an intensive 2006 survey found no remaining individuals.

Bluebuck

This slender antelope inhabited South Africa’s Cape Region when Dutch colonists arrived in the 17th century. Valued by settlers as tasty game, bluebuck were heavily hunted, with the inevitable population crash. Despite a 1774 colonial government protection order, hunting, habitat loss and competition from domestic sheep continued depleting the remaining bluebucks. By 1799, fewer than 25 persisted in the wild, with the last sighting in 1804, marking the extinction of South Africa’s first large mammal loss under European colonization.

Bubal Hartebeest

Once widespread across North Africa, this antelope subspecies was reduced to a single wild population in Algeria over the 20th century due to overhunting and competition from livestock. A captive herd transported to Tunisia’s Acclimatization Society park in 1945 were the hartebeest’s last hope, but they still faced persistent poaching and habitat degradation outside the park’s fence. The last Bubal hartebeest was found dead in the park from illness in 1958, sounding the death knell for this distinctive bovid.

Bushwren

This tiny flightless insectivorous bird inhabited dense undergrowth across both main New Zealand islands when Europeans arrived in the 19th century. However, predation by introduced species like stoats and cats saw bushwren populations dwindle over the 20th century until just one fragmented population held on in remote southwest Fiordland. But even this final remnant could not overcome inhospitable conditions and the last three remaining bushwren vanished after 1972 despite last-ditch protections.

Canarian Oystercatcher

This all-black wading shorebird inhabited rocky coasts of Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It was visually striking with its bright yellow eyes and long pink legs. However, the advent of human settlement on the Canaries led to egg harvesting, excessive disturbance from recreational activities, and habitat degradation from invasive species like rats and cats. Believed extinct since 1981, there have been occasional unconfirmed sightings of the Canarian oystercatcher over the past decades.

Caribbean Monk Seal

Once abundant across the Caribbean Sea, this warm-water species of seal was driven to extinction by intense hunting by European explorers and early 20th century industrial-scale harvesting. Valued for its blubber oil and pelts, the docile seals made easy prey for hunters. Mass habitat disturbance from human coastal development was another major threat. Following mass population collapse, the last reliably observed Caribbean monk seal was in 1952 at Seranilla Bank reef, Jamaica.

Caspian Tiger

This tiger subspecies was the westernmost surviving population until driven to extinction in the mid 20th century across Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian republics of the former USSR. Already reduced by 19th century Czarist-era hunting, remaining populations fell victim to habitat loss, a reduction of available prey, and persistent human conflicts during the World War I era, Russian Civil War and 1930s collectivization campaigns under Stalin. The last strongholds disappeared across their range by the 1950s through continued hunting, loss of natural prey base, deforestation and agricultural expansion into their territories.

Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby

This small marsupial inhabited Australia’s arid inland Queensland and New South Wales. With unusual crescent-shaped tails and ability to concentrate urine to conserve water, they were well-adapted desert-dwellers. But habitat destruction and invasive predators like foxes and cats proved their demise once bounties promoted wallaby hunting from the 1830s. By the 1950s, the nail-tail wallaby survived only at a pastoral property where some protection was afforded. But the last known individual disappeared in 1964, marking extinction of this Australian native animal.

Desert Rat-kangaroo

As a diminutive kangaroo species in Australia’s vast interior plains, this small marsupial hopped on two legs like a tiny man, using its tail for balance. But habitat destruction and competition from invasive species like rabbits led to its disappearance everywhere except resource-poor nullarbor scrublands by the 1930s. Yet even in this last refugium, the desert rat-kangaroo faded away, with the last known perished individual found in 1935, leaving only its bigger kangaroo relatives behind today.

Dodo

The dodo was a large, flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius. Known for its friendly and trusting nature, the dodo ultimately went extinct by the late 17th century due to exploitation by visiting sailors and invasive species that destroyed its nests. Within less than a century of its discovery in 1598, the dodo was hunted to extinction.

Falkland Islands Wolf

As the only native terrestrial mammal in the South Atlantic islands 800km from Argentina, this tawny canid evolved in isolation over millennia. With upright ears, long legs and restricted diet of penguins, seabirds and their eggs, they were not true wolves but represented a unique lineage. However, sealers, sailors and settlers arriving after the 1700s rapidly exterminated the unafraid wolf through persecution as livestock predators. The last known animal was killed in 1876 on West Falkland Island.

Formosan Clouded Leopard

This once secretive forest cat species was endemic to the island of Taiwan. But due to ongoing deforestation and habitat loss after the arrival of Han Chinese settlers in the 17th century, it vanished into obscurity by the late 20th century, with the last confirmed sighting in 1983. Despite intensive camera trapping surveys, the Formosan clouded leopard has stubbornly evaded rediscovery in the past 30+ years and is now considered extinct.

Great Auk

As a large, flightless seabird from the North Atlantic, the great auk was hunted by humans for its meat, eggs, and feathers. Due to overexploitation and harvesting by European explorers and hunters, the great auk went extinct by the mid-19th century. The last confirmed sighting was in 1852 off the coast of Newfoundland. Once found across the North Atlantic in massive colonies, today the great auk only exists as taxidermy specimens in museums.

Guam Flying Fox

This large fruit bat was endemic to the Pacific island of Guam, inhabiting native forest across volcanic hills and coastlines. More than 1,000 existed when record-keeping began in the 1970s, but the population had crashed by 45 individuals in 1993 and just 10 by 1997. Deforestation severely reduced its habitat before the introduced brown treesnake colonized the island after WWII, preying on the bats at roost sites. Despite last-ditch efforts to capture survivors, the last Guam flying fox died in captivity in 1998.

Guam Kingfisher

This colorful forest kingfisher was driven to extinction in the wild by the 1980s on the Pacific island of Guam due to predation by the invasive brown treesnake. However, cooperatively managed zoo populations serve as backup while efforts continue to control snakes and eventually allow reintroduction from captive stock. A related kingfisher still exists on nearby Rota Island which has kept snakes out via vigilance, giving hope for the Guam species’ eventual recovery.

Hawaiian Crow

Endemic to Hawaii Island forests, this matte-black crow uniquely used sticks as tools to extract prey from holes. But habitat destruction and introduced diseases like avian pox and malaria decimated the population over the late 20th century. By 2002, the last birds survived in a wild population of just 5-10 individuals on Hawaii Island. With a few dozen birds now bred in captivity on another Hawaiian island, conservation efforts continue to try reestablishing a wild population resistant to malaria.

Heath Hen

This prairie chicken formerly ranged eastern North American oak savannas from Maine to the Carolinas until habitat loss from agricultural expansion confined it just to coastal scrub on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts by the late 1800s. Further impacted by uncontrolled hunting and predation, the heath hen population dropped to just 50 birds by 1927 and 13 by 1931. Despite last-ditch legal protections, the last known heath hen perished in 1932 when it represented the iconic emblem of American conservation history.

Indefatigable Galápagos Tortoise

This giant tortoise species was native to Indefatigable (Santa Cruz) Island in Galápagos until overexploitation by 19th century whalers left it extinct. Easy to catch and transport alive on ships, giant tortoise meat was a welcome fresh delicacy for sailors in the days before refrigeration. Excessive harvesting for the marine mammal oil industry collapsed the population, eliminating the Indefatigable lineage. Today a closely related giant tortoise species from another Galápagos island survives due to early conservation efforts.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

One of Earth’s largest woodpeckers at nearly 2 feet long, it fed on beetles within old-growth Southern U.S. cypress swamps. Due to clearing of these forests in the early 20th century, it declined by the 1930s down to Cuba and a few remnant U.S. sites until disappearing by the 1950s except tantalizing rare sightings, spurring on-and-off searches for America’s most iconic extinct bird.

Jamaican Giant Galliwasp

As the largest legless lizard in the Americas, growing over 2 feet long, this reptile species was only discovered in 1990 living in a remote habitat in Jamaica’s Cockpit Country. However, invasive mongooses, cats and pigs disturbed its forest environment while its breeding colonies in cave systems were extremely vulnerable. After sporadic sightings through 2009, none have been confirmed since. Expanded forest protections have come too late, with the giant Jamaican galliwasp now likely extinct.

Labrador Duck

This odd sea duck once migrated along the Atlantic Coast from Labrador to Chesapeake Bay. Nesting in tree cavities, they were driven to extinction by overhunting and habitat destruction by the 1870s along their range. With peculiar whale-like groans, white eye rings and eating mainly mollusks, they occupied a unique niche lost forever. Some claim unconfirmed sightings persisted along the northeast US coast for decades until 1912, but most evidence indicates extinction by the late 19th century for these eccentric birds.

Laughing Owl

This ground-dwelling owl species was native to New Zealand, notorious for its screeching cries at night, which early European settlers found eerie. But the introduction of weasels, cats, rats and habitat loss led to predation of nests built on the ground. The laughing owl population rapidly dwindled to extinction by 1914. Aside from a sole individual recorded calling in Canterbury in 1918, the later 20th century proved deafeningly silent, ensuring this species is now just a footnote in New Zealand’s natural history.

Norfolk Island Kaka

This red and green parrot inhabited Norfolk Island, an Australian external territory in the Pacific Ocean. Its trust in humans enabled overhunting for food, feathers and even kept as pets. Habitat destruction from settling livestock farmers reduced forests needed for nest sites. Though some individuals persisted in captivity after the last bird disappeared in the wild in 1851, the last captive Norfolk kaka died in Melbourne in 1918, marking the species’ total extinction.

Paradise Parrot

Last confirmed in 1927 in Queensland, Australia, this aptly named parrot sported brilliant emerald and crimson plumage. Clearing of timber and undergrowth for agriculture erased its specialized habitat across northern forest and savanna regions of Australia. With a small captive population in Sydney dying out by 1918, unconfirmed sightings gave false hope over subsequent decades that survivors persisted in remote regions of Queensland. But despite sporadic searches, no definitive evidence has emerged since the 1920s of this iconic parrot’s continued existence.

Pernambuco Pygmy-owl

The Pernambuco pygmy owl inhabited a small region of coastal forest in northeastern Brazil. Rampant 20th century deforestation destroyed 90% of its specialized habitat, not only eliminating nest cavities in mature trees but making the remaining owls easier prey without dense forest cover. Conservationists detected the steady decline of the few hundred remaining owls through the 1990s despite efforts to reverse the loss by breeding captive individuals. But the species vanished early this century, likely going extinct between 2000 and 2002.

Pig-footed Bandicoot

This marsupial with delicate hind feet and long snout foraged Australia’s arid interior plains for insects and plants. But habitat destruction for agriculture and predation from invasive foxes and cats led to its disappearance across most of its range by the 1920s. The last known population contracted to arid shrubland straddling South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Yet even in this desolate refuge, the last pig-footed bandicoot perished by 1957, leaving only preserved museum specimens behind.

Pinta Island Tortoise

This giant tortoise species inhabited just one small island – Pinta Island – in the Galápagos archipelago. Discovered in the late 19th century, its population was already greatly reduced by invasive predators like rats which destroyed nest sites. Hunting by sailors further decimated their numbers. Conservation attempts came too late, with the death in captivity of a lone male named Lonesome George in 2012, eliminating the Pinta tortoise lineage after over a century of survival by just one individual.

Pyrenean Ibex

This striking wild goat subspecies once inhabited high elevations of northern Spain’s Pyrenees Mountains. Already reduced by overhunting, the Pyrenean ibex population was further depleted from outbreaks of sarcoptic mange, ultimately leading to extinction of the last known ibex in 2000. However, frozen skin samples had been saved in 1999. Since then, there have been efforts to clone the Pyrenean ibex using these tissue samples in hoofed hybrid embryos, with a cloned ibex born briefly in 2009 before dying minutes later.

Quagga

The quagga was a unique subspecies of plains zebra that inhabited South Africa in the 19th century. It had the trademark stripes on the head and neck of a zebra, but largely brownish fur on the rest of its body. Quaggas lived in close association with grazing cattle and horses on the plains. However, seen as pests by farmers, quaggas were ruthlessly hunted for meat and hides. With the advent of sophisticated firearms, the quagga was rapidly exterminated in the wild and the last one died in Amsterdam Zoo in 1883.

Round Island Burrowing Boa

This 2-foot long nonvenomous boa inhabited Round Island off the coast of Mauritius. When humans introduced rabbits to the island in the 19th century, they ravaged native vegetation, leading to habitat loss for the boa. By the early 1970s, the last individuals perished after a population decline spurred by cyclones destroying its forest environment along with predation by introduced species. Despite the serpent’s extinction nearly 50 years ago, the harmful rabbits remain on Round Island today, though conservation groups now protect other species still found there.

Santa Barbara Song Sparrow

This large song sparrow inhabited Southern California coastal sage scrub where it used its intricate melodies to attract mates. As development claimed over 97% of its specialized habitat, predation and shrinkage of available territory eradicated the song sparrows until just one breeding pair remained by the 1950s. Despite protection efforts, a disastrous wildfire followed by flooding destroyed their last refuge in 1959, driving this unique bird permanently extinct.

Schomburgk’s Deer

This swamp-dwelling deer was native to Thailand, with unique impressive antlers. Already threatened by habitat loss, they vanished rapidly from the wild after 1938. A few were transferred to protect them, but all died – except one doe – who lived alone in a garden in Bangkok. Long after the species vanished from nature, this lone relic endured a decade until she died in 1991 after getting tangled in vines, as the last surviving member of her kind.

Sea Mink

Called the “sea ermine” for its mottling and valued pelt, this larger mink species lived along North America’s northeast coast into maritime Canada. Overhunted for fur trade demands through the late 1800s, the sea mink grew rare by 1860 along New England’s shore. Despite late refuge on islands, the last known records, two pelts from New Brunswick Canada in 1887 and a sighting in Maine in 1894, indicated functional extinction due to trapping by the early 20th century.

Spix’s Macaw

This brilliant blue Brazilian parrot lived in small flocks around palm groves near watercourses in northeastern forests that have largely been cleared for agriculture. Trapped extensively for the pet trade through the 1970s, numbering fewer than 100 in 1985, the last bird in the wild disappeared in 2000. Around 100 now exist in captivity, part of coordinated breeding programs across three continents with the hope of eventually reintroducing the Spix’s macaw back into a protected Brazilian habitat.

Steller’s Sea Cow

Steller’s sea cow was a giant herbivorous marine mammal living in the North Pacific. Related to manatees, sea cows grew up to 9 meters long. Their curious and friendly nature unfortunately led to their quick demise once discovered by Arctic explorers in 1741. They were hunted to extinction for meat and fat by 1768 – just 27 years after first contact. Loss of this keystone species forever changed the ecosystem around the isolated Commander Islands.

Syrian Wild Ass

This Middle Eastern subspecies of onager wild ass once ranged desert expanses from Turkey to Saudi Arabia. Already pressured through the 19th century by hunting and habitat loss, their population crashed with expanded warfare, use as military transport and starvation during World War I and subsequent regional conflicts. The last animals were reportedly seen in 1927 in Syria’s remote northeast near Iraq and Turkey. Later claimed sightings raised hopes, but political instability long prevented verification, indicating likely extinction.

Tasmanian Tiger

The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, was the largest modern carnivorous marsupial. It had a wolf-like appearance despite being a marsupial. Once found across Australia and New Guinea, its population declined drastically after European colonization of Tasmania in the 1800s. With habitat loss and excessive hunting of the “pest” for the sheep industry, the last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936.

Toolache Wallaby

This mid-sized marsupial inhabited open woodlands and grasslands across southeastern Australia. With the arrival of European settlers in the 1800s, habitat destruction and overhunting of toolache wallabies for the fur trade led to a rapid population collapse. Following the toolache’s disappearance from South Australia and New South Wales by the early 20th century, a small isolated population survived in western Victoria until extinction in 1943 when the last known individual died in captivity at the Melbourne Zoo.

Wake Island Rail

This flightless bird species was native to a tiny coral island in the Pacific Ocean claimed by the United States in 1899. During World War II, it vanished after the Japanese garrison starved, and ate, the island’s wildlife. Postwar surveys found no remaining rails. Destruction of their freshwater marsh habitat and foraging areas by wartime military construction further doomed this species’ chance of survival. Their extinction represented collateral damage from the war in the Pacific.

Western Black Rhinoceros

This African rhino subspecies was driven to extinction in modern times by uncontrolled poaching and civil unrest. Formerly ranging across sub-Saharan countries from Cameroon to South Africa, civil wars and porous borders allowed its horn to be exploited by global black markets, fetching high prices for traditional Chinese medicine. From an estimated population of over 850,000 in the early 20th century, the Western Black Rhino was declared extinct in 2011 after its last refuge in Cameroon recorded no signs of the species since 2006.

Zanzibar Leopard

This leopard subspecies was endemic to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. Deforestation and persecution drove the Zanzibar leopard to the brink of extinction with the last confirmed sighting in 1996. But local reports of leopard sightings persist, offering slim hope that a few may still cling to survival in remote areas. With few historical records, little is known about the secretive island leopard, maintaining an intriguing mystery about its continued existence.

Colombian Grebe

This waterbird once inhabited Andean lakes and wetlands of Colombia before vanishing in the 1970s and 80s due to drainage and pollution of its specialized lake habitats from agriculture and urbanization. After dedicated searches of its few remaining refuges came up empty, the Colombian grebe was declared extinct in 1994 when no individuals could be located in its endemic range.

Holdridge’s Toad

Occurring only along a remote ridge stretching 40 kilometers in Costa Rica, this small tropical American toad suddenly disappeared in the late 1980s, likely accelerated by chytridiomycosis fungal disease attacking amphibians worsened by climate change impacts. With no sightings since despite extensive surveys, Holdridge’s toad now only exists as a few preserved museum specimens.

Japanese Sea Lion

This sea mammal inhabited coastal islands along Japan and Russia’s far east coast until overharvested by fishermen for meat, oils, and skins by the early 20th century. Further depleted by habitat loss, annual catches declined from over 1,000 to just 10 by the 1950s. Now extinct since the 1970s after dedicated searches revealed no survivors on its island breeding grounds, the Japanese sea lion serves as an early warning of marine overexploitation.

Javan Tiger

As a tiger subspecies limited to Indonesia’s Java Island, this apex predator persisted until the 1980s when expanding human settlement and agricultural lands extirpated the last isolated populations from Meru Betiri National Park, their final stronghold. With no tigers definitively recorded on Java since 1976 despite surveys, the Javan tiger was declared extinct in the 1990s after intensive hunting and deforestation destroyed its limited habitat.

Mariana Mallard

Once inhabiting forested wetlands across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, this dabbling duck declined through the 20th century due to wetland drainage for agriculture and predation by invasive species like monitor lizards and brown tree snakes. With the last sightings reported in 1979, the Mariana mallard has not been recorded in over 40 years despite periodic searches, indicating likely 1980s extinction.

Each highlighted extinct creature has a riveting backstory showcasing humanity’s overwhelming influence on the planet’s natural heritage.