The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has officially declared 21 species extinct, including eight species of Hawaiian honeycreeper birds and several mussels.

List of extinct species: The recently declared extinct species were earlier part of the national list of threatened and endangered species.
* Among the species are eight Hawaiian honeycreeper birds, several freshwater mussels, a Mariana fruit bat of Guam, and a small catfish known as the Scioto madtom.
* The extinction determination was based on criteria such as detectability of the species, adequacy of survey efforts, and time since last detection.

The extinction rate: Between 2004 and 2022, 39% of amphibian species have moved closer to extinction largely due to climate change.
* The Center for Biological Diversity reports a total of 650 species gone extinct in the U.S.
* Factors contributing to species loss include climate change, pollution, and invasive species.
* Approximately 3 billion birds have been decimated in North America since 1970.

Impact of human activity: Most of the now extinct species lost their battle for survival mainly due to habitat destruction and interaction with invasive species.
* The Hawaiian honeycreepers, for example, went extinct due to deforestation for development and agriculture, as well as diseases spread by non-native mosquitoes.
* The Mariana fruit bat succumbed to an invasive brown tree snake, agriculture, and overconsumption as food.

“The Endangered Species Act’s purpose…is to stop the journey toward extinction.” – Fish and Wildlife Director Martha Williams.
* Despite significant losses, 99% of the animals on the endangered and threatened list have not reached extinction.
* Fifty-four have been removed from the list thanks to recovery efforts, while 56 have been downgraded from endangered to threatened.

View original article here

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.