絕滅物種 

<1> [OCT 1, 2015]  Just the last 40 years we've lost an incredible variety of species, like these amazing creatures:

1. Golden Toad (1989) - This fluorescent amphibian was found in the high-altitude ridges of Costa Rica, but thanks to pollution, global warming and fungal skin infections.

1a. [2010/08] One hundred Kihansi Spray Toads (their skin is golden in color) have been flown to their native Tanzania after a close brush with extinction, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).  The species, which last year was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), was rehabilitated in captivity at the Bronx Zoo and the Toledo Zoo. Since 2004, when the toad was last seen in the wild, the captive population has climbed from a few hundred to nearly 7,000. For now, the toads—which unusually bear live young rather than laying eggs—reside in a new propagation center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, but plans are now in the works to eventually reintroduce the amphibian into its native habitat: the Kihansi Gorge in the Southern Udzungwa Mountains of South Central Tanzania, a region that possess the greatest biodiversity in all of Tanzania.

The return of the Kihansi Spray Toad to Tanzania marks a dramatic turn-around for the species. The gold-colored toad was endemic to a five-acre micro-habitat created by the spray of waterfalls in the Kihansi Gorge but in 1999 the construction of a World Bank-sponsored dam, which now generates one-third of the country’s electricity, destroyed its habitat by dramatically reducing the flow of the the falls. The species went into rapid decline despite efforts to create a sprinkler system to augment the diminished mist-zone. Chytrid fungus, a deadly disease that has driven dozens of frog and toad species to extinction over the past 30 years, also turned up in the gorge, hastening the Kihansi Spray Toad’s demise.

Facing almost certain extinction in the wild, the World Bank partnered with the Tanzanian government, the Toledo Zoo, and WCS's Bronx Zoo, to save the species through a captive breeding program. Now the captive population in U.S. institutions have a level where 100 toads can go back to Tanzania.   src

2. Zanzibar Leopard (1996), Zanzibar archipelago of Tanzania - It's still unclear whether this large cat is technically extinct — there are occasional unconfirmed sightings. strong>Cause of extinction: Locals believed the leopards were kept by witches, and aggressively hunted them. The animals were seen as evil predators that must be exterminated — and even the government was in on the campaign. In the mid-'90s there was a short-lived conservation effort but it was deemed too little, too late.

3. Po'ouli (2004) - A native of Maui, Hawaii, the Po'ouli, or Black-faced Honeycreeper, was only discovered in the 1970s. The birds inhabited the southwestern slope of Haleakala volcano. But the population declined rapidly, and by 1997 there were only three known Po'ouli left. Efforts to mate the remaining birds failed and the species was formally declared extinct seven years later.

4. Madeiran Large White (2007) - The stunning Madeiran Large White butterfly was found in the valleys of the Laurisilva forests on Portugal's Madeira Islands. The butterfly's closest relative, the Large White, is common across Europe, Africa and Asia. Cause of extinction: Loss of habitat due to construction as well as pollution from agricultural fertilizers are two major causes of the species' decline.

5. Tecopa Pupfish (1982)

6. Pyrenean Ibex 普通西班牙羱羊 (2000) - The last Pyrenean ibex died in 2000. However, a cloned ibex, created from skin samples taken from the last Pyrenean ibex, was birthed in 2009. It died shortly after birth from lung complications.

In the spring of 1999, Spanish biologists working for the Aragon regional government captured the last Pyrenean Ibex, named Celia. The biologists took blood, tissue (from her ear) and faeces samples. The samples were taken to preserve the Pyrenean Ibex's cell line for possible future cloning purposes. (Associated Press 2000; BBC News 2000; Perez et al. 2002 ) 

In January 2009, the Pyrenean Ibex became the first extinct animal to be resurrected by cloning. DNA from the tissue taken from the last Pyrenean Ibex named Celia had been transplanted into eggs from domestic goats. From the 439 embryos that had been created 57 were implanted into surrogate female domestic goats. Only seven of the embryos resulted in pregnancies, but only one of the goats gave birth to a female Pyrenean Ibex. This newborn ibex died after seven minutes due to breathing difficulties. Flaws in the DNA may have resulted into physical defects in its lungs. (Gray and Dobson 2009) However, this latest cloning attempt proved that Celia's cells are viable and that domestic goats cab be used as surrogates (Brahic 2009). The project will continue.

Attempts to clone Celia have highlighted a major problem: even if it is possible to produce another healthy Pyrenean ibex, there wouldn’t be a male of the female clone to breed with. One solution could be to cross Celia’s clones with males of another subspecies, although the offspring would be less “Pyrenean ibex” than Celia. A more ambitious plan would be to remove one X chromosome and add a Y chromosome from another still existing subspecies, creating a male Pyrenean ibex. (Zitner 2000)    info-1

7. West African Black Rhinoceros (2006) - The majestic West African black rhino was declared extinct in 2006, after conservationists failed to find any in their last remaining habitat in Cameroon. The West African black rhino was one of four subspecies of rhinoceros. Cause of extinction: Poachers hunted the rhino for its horn, which is believed by some in Yemen and China to possess aphrodisiacal powers.  info-1

7b. 據信是越南的最後一頭雌性爪哇犀牛於2010年4月被盜獵者殺害於吉仙國家公園，其犀角被割去，此後，世界自然保護聯盟的人員和越南本地的研究人員在進行全境調查後，再也沒有在越南發現活犀牛的身影、足跡或糞便。因此世界自然基金會（WWF）與國際犀牛基金會（IRF）在對越南進行全國地調查後宣佈，最後一頭爪哇犀牛已在2010年4月被殺害，爪哇犀牛已絕跡於越南，同時也標誌着越南亞種的爪哇犀牛也已滅絕。 wiki

8.8. Javan Tiger (1979) - 爪哇虎（學名：Panthera tigris sondaica）是曾經存活於印度尼西亞爪哇島上的一個虎的亞種，自從1980年代就已滅絕。爪哇虎是除巴厘虎和蘇門答臘虎外，生活在印尼境內的第三個虎亞種，也是最近期絕滅的一種虎。雖然迄今還不時有目擊的傳聞，但都未獲得證實。 wiki   info-1

9. Spix's Macaw (2004)

10. Round Island Burrowing Boa 圓島雷蛇 (1975) -

11. Dutch Alcon Blue Butterfly (1979)