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Endangered Animals - Extinction is Forever

Endangered Animals - Extinction is Forever Extinction is the disappearance, brought about by natural or unnatural means, of an entire species.

Some species of plants and animals die out naturally because newer species are more successful at competing for food and living space. Others have become extinct because of changes in the planet or because of natural disasters. Dinosaurs, for example, may have died out because the climate became cooler--maybe because an asteroid collided with the earth and caused a big cloud of dust that blocked out the sun.

In today's world, however, species mostly become extinct or are threatened with extinction because of humans. Humans hunt animals, destroy their habitats, and introduce other animals that prey upon the endangered animals or compete for their resources. Among these factors, the greatest threat to plants and animals is habitat destruction.

It is estimated that about 125 species of birds and 60 species of mammals have become extinct since 1600. Currently, there are approximately 1000-1100 species of birds and mammals that are facing extinction. If invertebrates and plants are included, the total number of species in imminent danger is around 20,000.

Sample these internet activities and complete the tasks for each one to learn about a few of the animals that no longer exist.

Dodo | Steller's Sea Cow | Tasmanian Tiger | Passenger Pigeon | Great Auk
Barbary Lion | Moa | Carolina Parakeet | Caribbean Monk Seal

Dodo

Dodo Web

  1. Where does the word "dodo" come from?
  2. Europeans first visited Mauritius in 1627. By what year were dodos extinct?

Dodo

  1. How do scientists think that the dodo evolved into a flightless bird?
Steller's Sea Cow

Steller's Sea Cow

  1. These animals are similar to manatees and dugongs--only much bigger. When and where were they first discovered?
  2. How big were Steller's sea cows?
  3. Why was it easy to kill Steller's sea cows?
  4. What were they killed for?
  5. When did they become extinct?

Steller's Sea Cow

  1. What were the predators of this animal?
  2. When was the animal last seen?

Steller's Sea Cow

  1. Why were the shipwrecked crew of the of Vitus Bering's ship St. Peter so glad to discover Steller's sea cows?
  2. What did Steller's sea cows eat?
  3. In what part of the world did most Steller's sea cows live?
  4. How long were these animals and how much could they weigh?
  5. What were they often mistaken for?
  6. How did Steller's sea cows get their name?
  7. Some of the first sailors who killed and ate the meat of a Steller's sea cow said that the meat what similar to what other kind of meat?
  8. There is a small possibility that Steller's sea cows may still exist in remote areas. According to this site, when was the last possible siting of a Steller's sea cow?
Tasmanian Tiger

Tasmanian Tiger

  1. What is the official name of a Tasmanian tiger?
  2. When did the last one die?
  3. What is Australia's largest carnivorous marsupial now that the Tasmanian tiger is extinct?
  4. How large was a Tasmanian tiger and what did it look like?

The Unnatural Museum - Tasmanian Tiger

  1. The Tasmanian tiger was not really a tiger at all--or any other kind of large cat. What was it really?
  2. Tasmanian tigers used to be common in Tasmania and where else?
  3. What other animal that lives in Australia and surrounding islands outcompeted the Tasmanian tiger?
  4. Why was this animal called a tiger?
  5. What physical characteristic did it have that was similar to a kangaroo? (besides a pouch)
  6. What was their primary food source?
  7. What physical characteristic gave Tasmanian tigers a fierce appearance? But actually, they weren't fierce at all. What were they really like?
  8. How did development of cultivated land impact the Tasmanian tiger? What was the other enemy to these animals?
  9. If a few Tasmanian tigers really do still exist, where does this site claim that they probably are?

Thylacine

  1. About how many stripes did these animals have? Where were the stripes distributed on their bodies?
  2. What was its tail like?
  3. About how many babies did it give birth to at one time? What way did the pouch of a female Tasmanian tiger face? Towards its head? Or towards its tail?
  4. From 1888 to 1908, how much would the government pay for dead thylacines? During that time period, about how many thylacines were killed?
  5. Besides hunting, what other factors contributed to the loss of thylacines?
Passenger Pigeon

Passenger Pigeons

  1. What did passenger pigeons look like?
  2. One time, notable bird conservationist John James Audubon observed a flock of pigeons passing over a period of three days at a rate he estimated to be how many birds an hours?
  3. Where did passenger pigeons live and what did they eat?
  4. What were some of the ways that passenger pigeons were killed?

Passenger Pigeon

  1. In terms of numbers of birds, what did the passenger pigeon population used to be like? Compare it to the number of species of other North American birds.
  2. What was unusual about how fast they could fly?
  3. When did the population of passenger pigeons start declining?
  4. List 3 reasons that their numbers declined.
  5. In one passenger pigeon competition, how many birds did a participant have to kill just to be considered for a prize?
  6. How many birds were left by 1896?
  7. What happened to many of the remaining birds on one single day?
  8. When and where was the last legitimate sighting of a passenger pigeon in the wild?
  9. By 1909, there were only 3 passengers pigeons left. Where were they and what happened to them?
Great Auk

Great Auk

  1. What well-known kind of bird did the Great Auk look like?
  2. Where did they live?
  3. When were they mainly hunted?
  4. What is one of the main reasons why they were hunted?
  5. Who killed the last breeding pair of Great Auks?
Barbary Lion

Barbary Lion

  1. The Barbary lion was the largest species of lion. Where was it once found?
  2. What was the habitat of Barbary lions?
  3. About how much did Barbary lions weigh?
  4. How were its eyes different than African or Asian lions?
  5. Describe its mane.
  6. What was their main prey?
  7. How were Barbary lions associated with the Roman Empire?
  8. When and where was the last Barbary lion killed?
  9. What were the causes of its extinction?
Moa

Moas

  1. This site claims that there were 15 species of moas. What did all of the species lack?
  2. What did moas mainly eat?
  3. How did the Maori people contribute to the extinction of the moas?
  4. About how long ago did moas become extinct?
Carolina Parakeet

Carolina Parakeet

  1. This bird was not a parakeet at all. What was it?
  2. Why were they killed?
  3. When did they become extinct?
Caribbean Monk Seal

Caribbean Monk Seal

  1. How long has it been since there has been a confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal?
  2. The last known colony of these seals was believed to have been where?
  3. Why were they hunted?
  4. What connection do they have with Christopher Columbus?

Bibliography

Charman, Andy. I Wonder Why the Dodo Is Dead and Other Questions About Extinct and Endangered Animals. New York : Kingfisher, 1996.

Markle, Sandra. Gone Forever! : An Alphabet of Extinct Animals. New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c1998.

Mullins, Patricia. V For Vanishing : An Alphabet of Endangered Animals. New York : HarperCollins, 1994.

Scott, Michael. The Young Oxford Book of Ecology. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1995.

Author: LINDA MOSBACKER - Email linda.mosbacker@slc.k12.ut.us