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Nature's red alert: 5 species that went extinct while we watched
The last few years were quite ominous for conservationists and wildlife lovers everywhere. Climate change, deforestation, and pollution have long been known as causes of extinction, but 2019 to 2024 saw a rapid increase in species going extinct.
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The official announcement of extinction is not to be taken lightly and takes years, and very often decades, of intensive surveys and ecological information.
The following are five species that were officially confirmed as extinct between 2019 and 2024, using official sources such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and national environmental departments.
Chinese Paddlefish (Psephurus gladius)
Credit: Wikipedia
Confirmed extinct: July 2022 (IUCN)
Last spotted: Early 2000s
Habitat: Yangtze River, China
One of the world's largest freshwater fish, the Chinese paddlefish, was officially declared extinct in 2022.
Reaching more than 7 meters in length, it was a top predator in the Yangtze River for millions of years. But dam building (particularly the Gezhouba Dam), overfishing, and habitat fragmentation put an end to its life. No one has been seen despite exhaustive search campaigns since 2003. The paddlefish was considered "functionally extinct" in 2019 before it was delisted from the IUCN Red List in 2022.
Mountain Mist Frog (Litoria nyakalensis)
Announced extinct: October 2020 (IUCN)
Last recorded: 1990
Distribution: Queensland, Australia
This rare frog had previously inhabited the rainforests of uplands in northeastern Australia.
It started declining in the latter half of the 20th century due to the transmission of chytrid fungus, a highly lethal pathogen on amphibians globally. By 1990, the species was completely extinct. It was officially declared extinct by the IUCN in 2020, after intense surveys had failed to provide any indication of its continuation.
Poʻouli (Melamprosops phaeosoma)
Credit: Wikipedia
Declared extinct: 2021 (U.S. Fish & Wildlife), 2024 (IUCN)
Last seen: 2004
Habitat: Maui, Hawaii
The Poʻouli, a honeycreeper native to Hawaii, was a bird that inhabited forests with exceptional feeding habits and a distinctive look.
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It was first discovered in 1973, and its population quickly dwindled because of habitat loss, introduced predators such as rats and cats, and disease transmitted by mosquitoes. The last recorded specimen died in captivity in 2004. In 2021, the U.S. formally recommended its delisting as an endangered species because it had gone extinct.
IUCN also verified the status of extinction in 2024.
Campo Grande Tree Frog (Boana cymbalum)
Declared extinct: 2023 (IUCN)
Last spotted: Only once in 1968
Habitat: São Paulo, Brazil
Recorded from a single locality and observation in 1968, this Brazilian tree frog has not been seen since targeted searching.
Urbanization at speed, pollution, and deforestation of forested habitats led to its suspected extinction. In 2023, the IUCN officially declared the Campo Grande tree frog to be extinct, another case of how biodiversity can be lost before a species can even be scientifically examined.
Cheongpung Blind-Beetle (Coreoblemus parvicollis)
Declared extinct: 2023 (IUCN)
Last observed: Unknown
Habitat: Cheongpung, South Korea
A subsurface cave beetle restricted to a limited region of South Korea, the beetle went unnoticed when it silently became extinct after environmental alterations due to dam construction and flooding in the area.
Its extinction was authenticated by the IUCN in 2023. Lacking its unknown nature, very little information is available, which is usually true with underground or micro-endemic organisms.
Is this nature warning us against a bigger threat?
These five species are among the hundreds that could be lost this decade. Every extinction carries a greater message: the Earth's biodiversity is in trouble. Over 47,000 species are threatened with extinction, and many will likely go silently into oblivion without ever being globally noticed, states the IUCN Red List. Whereas extinction is irreversible, activist conservation, restoration of habitats, and international cooperation can reverse this trend.
The question remains: Will we do so before the next one is erased from the list.
