Tag archives for Extinction
Javan Rhinos Extinct in Mainland Asia
Posted by The last adult Javan rhino in Vietnam was killed last year, making the animal extinct on the Asian mainland. The rhino was probably killed by a poacher. Only about 50 Javan rhinos remain and live in a park in Indonesia.
Habitat loss and hunting caused the population of Javan rhinos to drop during the 20th century. The rhino was thought to be extinct on mainland Asia until a population of about 15 animals was discovered in 1988. With this recent death, conservationists are sure that there are no Javan rhinos left in Vietnam.
Learn more about the extinction of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam on National Geographic News.
Get the facts on the black rhinoceros in the Creature Feature.
Photograph courtesy WWF Greater Mekong
Sri Lanka’s Horton Plains slender loris was thought to be extinct since 1937. However, in 2009 two lorises were photographed and examined. Although they aren’t extinct, they are extremely endangered. Scientists estimate that there are fewer than one hundred of the lorises living in the cloud forests of central Sri Lanka. “Potentially this is the rarest primate we’re aware of today,” said Craig Turner, a conservation biologist for the Zoological Society of London.
Read more about the Horton Plains slender loris on National Geographic News.
Get the facts on animals on National Geographic Kids.
Photograph courtesy ZSL
The fossilized remains of a giant species of sperm whale have been found in a desert in Peru! The 60-foot (18-meter) giant whale is called Leviathan melvillei after Herman Melville, the author of the novel about a whale called Moby-Dick. A study in Nature says that the whale’s massive teeth may mean that the whale actively hunted other whales and not only eating giant squid, like today’s sperm whale.
Learn more about Leviathan melvillei on National Geographic News.
How much do you know about the largest living species of whale? Quiz Your Noodle and find out!
Illustration by C. Letenneur, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Poaching and the spread of the Ebola virus may cause a quick extinction of gorillas in central Africa, according to a new study by the United Nations. An increase in the human population, logging, and mining for minerals used in cell phones also contribute to the gorilla decline.
Gorilla populations are down from about 17,000 in the mid-1990s to 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas today.
Read the full story on National Geographic News.
Find out about the rescue of a baby gorilla.
Get the facts on mountain gorillas.
Find out about, Mystery Gorillas, a new Nat Geo Wild show premiering April 5.
Photograph by Brent Stirton
