15 Animals That Are Hunted To Extinction By Humans

Just so you know, thousands of bears have been hunted for sports and other purposes for centuries. The worse part was that the atlas bears became extinct in the 1870s due to many various causes. Atlas bears also partly attributed to the Roman Empire as well. That was when people use bears to fight in the arena against gladiators and other animals. They were treated cruelly, and they were hunted for sport, venatio games., and more. Human activities played a great role in their extinction, and now they are all gone.

Bubal was one of the misfortune animals that were killed by humans. The largest wipeout was in the 19th century when the entire herds were massacred at once by the colonial military. Apart from hunting, the loss of their habitat and food were also the causes of the decrease in their number as well. Bubal was also the prey of Barbary lions which might play a great part in extinction.

The Caribbean Monk Seal had 2 main predators, sharks and humans. We are the worst. They were hunted for their fur, meat, and oil mostly by fishermen and whalers. On top of the over hunting, people also overfished which lead to the lack of food for the seal. Those who were not hunted also died from starvation since there was no fish or mollusks for them to feed on.

Here we have another flightless bird that became extinct long before we know its name. The elephant bird has the looks and size that resemble our modern-day Ostrich. They are large, and each giant egg of them can feed the entire family. No doubt why people loved to hunt them. The elephant bird became extinct by the 17th or 18th century, and the collection of their eggs by humans was one of the causes.

Great Auk is one among other unfortunate flightless birds that were hunted to extinction. They became extinct in the mid-19th century, and here’s why. The great auk had been a food source for the Neanderthals for thousands of years before mass hunting started. Hunters killed them for their down (soft feather) to make pillows. Some people collect their eggs which was also one of the causes of their extinction as well.

It has been a century since the extinction of passenger pigeons. This type of pigeon was hunted by Native Americans at first, but things got more serious after the arrival of the Europeans. So pigeon meat was known as cheap food that everyone could afford which lead to massive hunting for decades. Apart from hunting, deforestation was also one of the causes of this bird’s extinction as well. The last passenger pigeon named Martha died on September 1, 1914 at the age of 29 at Cincinnati Zoo.

They are one of the four subspecies of wild goats, and they became extinct 18 years ago. The scientists tried to clone and bring them back to life several times. One was born in 2003 but died shortly after due to a lung defect. People hunt Pyrenean Ibex for fun and meat which caused a great decrease in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other than that, the remaining population was gone due to infections, diseases, and the inability to compete with other species for food.

Quagga was the subspecies of plains zebra, and they became extinct in the 19th century. The Quagga looks like a combination of horse and zebra, and they were heavily hunted to extinction by 1878. The reasons for hunting were because of their meat and skin. Their unique stripes and their rareness had caused the settlers to ruthlessly hunt them till they were gone.

This type of deer was native to central Thailand, and it became extinct in 1938. This deer had a beautiful color and body along with incredible antlers. They fed on long grass, cane, and shrubs. But their population decreased when the loss of almost all grassland and swamp began. Apart from losing their food and habitat, Schomburgk’s Deer also faced intensive hunting as well. The overhunting began in 1932, and it took only 6 years to clear the entire species from the earth by humans.

Hunters hunted sea mink in very ruthless ways they could find to get their fur for clothing. Fur traders made traps to catch sea minks. Not even that, if they escaped into small holes or rocky edges, hunters used shovels and crowbars to dig them up. If the sea minks are out of reach, hunters shoot them and then retrieved them using wire and iron rods. Or if the sea minks were hiding, they were smoked out and suffocated. Can you feel that? They have become extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century, due to merciless hunting.

The Tasmanian Tiger aka The Thylacine was the largest carnivorous marsupial of modern times. People called it a tiger because of the stripes on its lower back that resemble tigers. This animal has become extinct in the 20th century due to some reasons, not entirely human’s fault. The thing is that it was believed that the Thylacine attacked sheep and other livestock. That leads to trapping and shooting, and the activities continued till the species became extinct. Other reasons include competition with wild dogs, erosion of habitat, and diseases.

You can’t have a list of extinct animals without the dodo bird. Being flightless birds was one of the reasons that made it hard for them to protect themselves from predators. However, there were more causes that lead to the extinction of this awesome bird. They were not afraid to walk in front of people, and since they couldn’t fly, they were super easy to hunt. The dodo was fearless of humans, and Dutch sailors loved hunting them because they couldn’t fly. They became extinct centuries ago, and that was just so unpleasant.

Toolache Wallaby was a slim, graceful, and elegant animal that looked unique and beautiful in its way. People hunted them for their fur as well as for sport. Their population was alright in 1910, but the number declined rapidly by 1923. Scientists had tried to capture them to breed in order to pursue their existence. However, 10 of them died from exhaustion and shock in captivity. The last Toolache Wallaby died in 1939, and the main reasons for their extinction were hunting, foxes, and land loss.

Also known as the Falkland Islands Wolf, this animal became extinct in 1876. The arrival of the settlers of the islands was one of the causes of hunting. It was believed that the Warrah attacked their sheep which lead to the shooting and poisoning of the wolf. And that happened on a massive scale which brought extinction to the Warrah no longer after that.

Also known as Western Black Rhinoceros, this animal has been declared to be extinct since 2011. People love hunting them due to the demand for their horns for medicine or decoration. Their population started to decline year by year, and only 10 survived in 2000. And the number goes down to only 5 in 2001. Hundreds of West African Black Rhinoceros were hunted due to the value of their horns which were believed to be able to cure specific ailments. 1 kilogram of their horn could cost more than $50,000. While some doctors in

Vietnam believed that rhino horns can cure cancer, but the demand was always in need. The less their number was, the higher the price became. People also used their horns to make ceremonial knife handles called Janbiya as well. The knife made from the rhinoceros horn represents wealth and status due to the cost. Look what we have done, none of them is on earth anymore.

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