The slender-billed curlew is a migratory shorebird that can be found in West Asia, mainland Europe, and North Africa. Or, rather, it used to be found there. The last time anyone saw one was in Morocco in February 1995. A coalition of scientists from a variety of wildlife and nature research centers from around the world have determined that’s about long enough to say that the slender-billed curlew is now extinct.
It’s not for a lack of trying. Researchers have been trying to find evidence of the slender-billed curlew for nearly three decades now and have been coming up empty. The research published in the journal IBIS used statistical analysis to conclude that there is a 99.6% chance that the slender-billed curlew just doesn’t exist anymore.
Yes, there are plenty of animals out there that scientists once thought were extinct only to find evidence that there were still a few of them kicking around somewhere. It’s rare but it does happen, at least enough to fill some internet listicles. Generally speaking, however, when the scientific community reaches a consensus on whether or not an animal exists anymore, they’re usually correct.
Its extinction is all but official, as it lacks one final stamp of approval from the most important governing body that officially determines whether an animal is extinct.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or ICUN, is that governing body. They are the ones holding open an animal’s dossier while hovering a rubber stamp emblazed with the word “Extinct” over it. While there is overwhelming evidence that the slender-billed curlew is extinct, the ICUN has yet to slam that stamp on its dossier to make it official. They’ll look over the evidence to make a final determination. For now, it’s still listed as Critically Endangered.
The slender-billed curlew’s extinction can be attributed to habitat lost, hunting, pollution, disease, and of course climate change. A shorter version of that explanation could just be the word “humans.”
We’ve drained their breeding grounds for agriculture, destroyed coastal wetlands with our pollution and expansion, and hunted them in their wintering grounds. Humans are a mess, to put it lightly.
The post First Known Bird Extinction Declared in Mainland Europe appeared first on VICE.
The post First Known Bird Extinction Declared in Mainland Europe appeared first on VICE.
