Something is constantly changing in nature, and these changes can be both insignificant and global. Unstable climate, epidemics, environmental pollution, deforestation - all this negatively affects the animal world. All life forms on Earth are closely interconnected, and the extinction of one species or another is reflected in other types of ecosystems. The fact that rare and endangered animals exist on our planet is mainly human fault.
Intensive hunting at the end of the ice age led to the disappearance of the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave bear and large-horned deer.
The invention of fire by man brought much harm to the animal kingdom. Fires destroyed vast areas of forests.
The negative influence of man on the animal kingdom intensified with the development of agriculture and cattle breeding. The result of this is simply the disappeared animals and birds that have lost their habitat, as steppes and savannahs have replaced the dense forests.
Caring for animals and plants has long been the task of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Other organizations are also working on this. Rare and endangered animals (like plants) are listed in the Red Book. The country on the territory of which threatened species live is responsible to all mankind for their conservation. Currently, in reserves, wildlife sanctuaries create conditions for the conservation of rare animals, where they are looked after, fed, protected from diseases and predators.
The special pages of the Red Book are ominously called the Black Book. It records which animals have disappeared forever from the face of the earth, beginning in 1600. The Black Book is a warning to people and a reminder of those representatives of our world who cannot be returned. The book of extinct animals is constantly updated. On its pages there are already several hundred species. And this is a very sad statistic.
This article describes some animals that have disappeared due to human fault.
Tasmanian or marsupial wolf
The birthplace of this animal is mainland Australia and the island of New Guinea. For the first time, the marsupial wolf had to change its habitat after people transported dingo dogs to the island . The marsupial wolf displaced by them turned out to be on the island of Tasmania, where local farmers began to mercilessly destroy it, trying to protect the sheep.
The last representative of the species was killed in 1930. The date of its final disappearance is considered to be 1936, when the last Tasmanian wolf died of old age in an Australian zoo.
Woolly mammoth
It is believed that the birthplace of this animal is Siberia, and later it spread throughout Europe and North America. The mammoth was not as huge as is commonly believed. In size, he was a little larger than a modern elephant.
These animals, which disappeared due to human fault (presumably), lived in groups. They moved from place to place in search of food, which required a considerable amount. A group of mammoths was led by a female.
The complete disappearance of this animal species occurred about ten thousand years ago. Modern researchers are inclined to believe that the main reason for the extinction of mammoths was people, although there are many other theories (climate change, epidemics, etc.).
Mauritius Dodo (Dodo)
This bird has long been considered mythical, not existing in nature.
And only after a specially organized expedition to Mauritius discovered the remains of the dodo, the existence of the species was officially recognized. In addition, it was proved that it was people who exterminated these birds.
A threat to the existence of the dodo bird was the Dutch sailors who discovered it in 1598. The Mauritius dodo allegedly completely disappeared in 1681. Travelers, as well as animals brought by colonists to Mauritius, contributed to this.
Sea cow
The expedition of Vitus Bering discovered this animal in 1741. Doctor Georg Steller is the author of the most detailed description of a sea (Steller) cow. Actually, a new species was named after him.
The animal living on the coast of the Komandorski Islands was huge and inactive. The absence of fear of people and tasty meat became the reason for its complete extermination only thirty years after the discovery.
Meat and fat were used for food, boats were made from hides. The process of trapping and killing a sea cow was often very cruel: they threw the animal with spears and let it float away in the hope that the body of the dead cow would be carried ashore.
The species was completely destroyed in 1768.
Passenger pigeon
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, these birds were the most common on Earth, but despite this, they could not survive.
Pigeons, whose place of residence was the territory of the modern USA and Canada, were actively hunted by colonists who arrived in America.
The number of birds gradually decreased until about 1870, then there was a sharp decrease in their number. The last representative of the species was discovered in the wild in 1900.
The year when this species completely disappeared from the face of the earth is considered to be 1914, when the bird, named Marta, died in one of the zoos.
North african cow antelope
An animal from the subfamily of large antelopes living in Africa disappeared from the map of the Earth in the middle of the twentieth century.
Due to the fact that these animals were actively hunted, the last representatives of this species could only be found in very inaccessible places for people of the African continent. In 1954, the animals became extinct .
Javan tiger
In the nineteenth century, this tiger could be found on the island of Java. The animal constantly annoyed the locals, which, perhaps, was the reason for the active hunting for him.
By 1950, about 25 tigers remained in Java, and half of them lived in a specially created reserve. Unfortunately, this did not help save the population - in 1970 there were only seven tigers left.
In the same year, the animal completely disappeared from the face of the earth. Although until now, reports have sometimes come that the Javanese tiger was again discovered on the island. But there is no documentary evidence of these cases.
Zanzibar Leopard
The history of the destruction of this animal is very unusual. The Zanzibar leopard locals exterminated purposefully, going hunting the whole village. And not meat or animal skin attracted people. It was believed that this leopard is associated with witches who are engaged in breeding and training representatives of the species, and later use them as assistants in their dark affairs.
The extermination of leopards began in 1960. These animals completely disappeared exactly thirty years later.
Iberian Capricorn
It is one of four species of Spanish wild goats. Until now, the animal could not survive, and the death of the last representative was extremely ridiculous - a tree fell on the animal and crushed it.
2000 is considered the year of complete disappearance. Scientists tried to clone the Iberian Capricorn, but the cub could not be saved, as he had many birth defects.
Western black rhino
Just a few years ago, the animal was declared extinct. The reason for this was the regular hunting in its habitat, which is Cameroon. These animals, which disappeared due to human fault, had very valuable horns, which were used in many recipes of Chinese medicine.
The search for surviving rhinos began in 2006, but yielded no results. Therefore, the species was declared extinct. In addition, other rhinos are on the verge of extinction.
The year of complete extinction of the species is 2011.
This article presents only some animals that have disappeared due to human fault. Over the past five hundred years, more than 844 species have been exterminated.