The Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine

The largest known carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian Tiger is native to Australia and New Guinea. It is also called the Thylacine, or Tasmanian Wolf, and is from the genus Thylacinus.
The Tasmanian Tiger became extinct on mainland Australia thousands of years before European settlement.

However, the Thylacine continued to exist in Tasmania, an island state of Australia, until about 1936.
There are various theories on why the Tasmanian Tiger became extinct. Among these are bounty hunters, disease, and the destruction of its natural habitat.

Although it is officially listed as extinct, there are still reported sightings reported to this day of the Tasmanian Tiger. No sightings have been confirmed by empirical evidence, however.

At present there are attempts at cloning the Tasmanian Tiger happening in scientific research.

Cranes Could Be Extinct By the End of this Century

There are 15 species of cranes, and all of them could be extinct by the end of this century, according to Dutch scientist Dr Joost Van der Ven. 

Dr Joost Van der Ven says that lack of breeding and wintering are the main concerns for cranes. 

There are 25 000 cranes worldwide, 10 000 of which winter in India.  The largest population of cranes live in Australia.

The Siberian crane, which wintered in India and Iran, has gone extinct due to being hunted while on their migration route.

Read more at The Times of India.

Indonesian Orangutan On the Brink of Extinction

Indonesian orangutans are being hunted to extinction, states Erik Meijaard, who led a team to assess the endangered status of orangutans in Kalimantan, Borneo.  He estimates that between 750 and 1800 orangutans were killed by hunters in the previous 12 months.  Indonesia is home to 90% of the orangutans in the world, and based on those figures, Erik Meijaard says that the endangered orangutan could be hunted to extinction in the next ten to fifteen years.

Read more at The Guardian

"Rhino Girl" Speaks out about Endangered Rhinoceros

Charlene Hewatt, known to endangered animal circles and poachers as "Rhino Girl", spoke out at the Rotary Club of Hunyani about her fundraising efforts overseas.

Charlene Hewatt is the chief executive of Environment Africa and works tirelessly on the behalf of endangered African animals.

She stated that "extinction is forever" and explained how she endured weather extremes in her travels to raise funds and awareness for the rhinoceros, rapidly approaching extinction in Zimbabwe.

Read more about Charlene Hewatt's talk on the endangered rhinoceros species.

Hwange National Park Elephants Dying in the Drought

Isdore Guvamombe writes poignantly of the drought affecting the endangered elephants of the Hwange National Park. This park holds the largest concentration of elephants in any national park of the world.  Each elephant requires 225 litres a day of water to survive, but the drought is making this impossible to obtain for many elephants.

Read the full article by Isdore Guvamombe here "Hwange's Jumbos Under Threat"

News Alerts for Endangered and Extinct Animals

Scientists rejoice in return of species News24 His freedom had been months in the making, but in less than a minute - and three decades after his species was believed extinct - he was gone, unleashed into the wild to do what the endangered ferret does best: attack and kill prairie dogs. ... See all stories on this topic »

British mammals alarm: red squirrel 'could be extinct within next 20 years' The Guardian Seven species of mammals whose conservation was given priority status, including some of the most endangered, were still declining last year, says the report – State of Britain's Mammals 2011. But there was good news with regard to otters, ... See all stories on this topic » The Guardian

DNA confirms existence of NZ bird thought extinct Scoop.co.nz (press release) "Hopefully now the NZ Storm-Petrel will be given a conservation priority that would be given to a nationally endangered species. This will help us to fund further study of the bird, such as where it breeds." Dr Robertson adds that once scientists have ... See all stories on this topic »

Frank Zitz: Taxidermist earns praise from clients Poughkeepsie Journal (Still, Zitz is well known for fabrication work — building pieces from artificial material that represent animals that are extinct, endangered or illegal to hunt; or that never existed in the first place.) Zitz can tell you the story behind every ... See all stories on this topic »

Study offers new insights on earth's biodiversity Massey News (press release) The paper – cover story in the latest issue of the journal Science – says that contrary to previous understandings, species turnover (or beta diversity – the time a species lasts before it becomes extinct and is replaced by other species) is similar in ... See all stories on this topic » Massey News (press release)

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IUCN Species of the Day: Aquatic Tenrec

IUCN Species of the Day: Aquatic Tenrec Bush Warriors | August 26, 2011 at 10:00 pm | Tags: agricultural expansion, Andringitra National Park, animal blog, animal blogs, Animal Rights, Animals, animals blog, aquatic habitat, Aquatic Tenrec, Biodiversity., Conservation, Current Events, deforestation, Education, Endangered Species, endemic species, endemic to Madagascar, Environment, erosion, Extinction, fish trap bycatch, fish traps, forest catchments, forest fragmentation, forest loss, forested catchments, forests, highlands, humid forests, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, jellyfish, killing, Limnogale mergulus, Madagascar, Nature, nocturnal mammals, poaching, prevention of erosion, protected areas, protected areas network, Ranomafana National Park, riparian zones, riverine habitat, semi-aquatic mammal, siltation, soil erosion, stop poaching, tenrec, vegetated riparian zones, vulnerable, vulnerable to extinction, web-footed tenrec, wildlife, wildlife blog, wildlife blogs, wildlife conservation, wildlife conservation blog | Categories: IUCN Species of the Day | URL: http://wp.me/pH76q-4Dn

Photo credit: Kevin H. Barnes

The Aquatic Tenre, Limnogale mergulus, is listed as 'VULNERABLE' on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Read more of this post

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