By: LM & AL

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms, normally a species.

Some animals’ extinction is caused by natural causes.

Some animals are completely terminated by hunting .

Quagga, of the Karoo Plains and southern Free State of South Africa were a subspecies of the Burchella’s Zebra.

Tasmanian Wolf A Carnivorous marsupial and a relative of

wombats and kangaroos.

English Wolf The wolf became extinct in England in 1486,

Scotland in 1743, and Ireland in 1770.

Turanian Tiger Caspian Tigers lived in China, Tajikistan,

Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. They were hunted for their furs and to protect livestock. The last Caspian Tiger reported shot was in 1957.

Steller's Sea Cow Steller's Sea Cow was discovered in the

Aleutian Islands by George Steller while exploring with Vitus Bering in 1741. They grew as large as 35 feet long and weighed up to three and a half tons.

Spectacled Cormorant Discovered in the Aleutian Islands by

George Steller while exploring with Vitus Bering in 1741. The Spectacled Cormorant was extinct within about a century.

Passenger Pigeon The last Passenger Pigeon, named Martha,

died alone at the Cincinnati Zoo at about 1:00 pm on September 1, 1914.

Golden Toad In 1987, due to erratic weather, the pools

dried up before the larva had matured. Out of potential 30,000 toads, only 29 had survived.

Caribbean Monk Seal It was officially declared extinct just last

year, on June 6th, 2008, although the last recorded account of the species was made at Serranilla

Pyrenean Ibex The last naturally born Pyrenean Ibex,

named Celia, died on January 6th, 2000, after being found dead under a fallen tree at the age of 13.

Phororhacos

The extinct bird, Phororhacos lived in South America during the Miocene and stood eight feet tall.

Spix's Macaw

This species of Macaw was native to Brazil. The IUCN database entry says the last known individual in the wild disappeared at the end of 2000

Bubal Hartebeest

The last Bubal Hartebeest was probably a female which died in the Paris Zoo in 1923.

Javan Tiger

Javan Tigers are a subspecies of tiger which were limited to the Indonesian island of Java. The last specimen to have been seen was sighted in 1972

Tecopa Pupfish

The fish were first discovered in the Tecopa Hot Springs in California in 1942, and their decline followed shortly thereafter

Baiji River Dolphin

The dolphin was declared functionally extinct after an expedition late in 2006 failed to record a single individual after an extensive search