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Extinct Species of Animals - here are some animals that became extinct in recent times.

It's sad that these animals are rarely/no longer be seen on this earth.

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Pinta Island Tortoise, June 24, 2012





The last of his kind, Lonesome George died this weekend in his pen at a research facility. His exact age isn't known, but he was estimated to be over 100.

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Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin, 2006





Declared extinct in 2006, a video of what appeared to be a baiji dolphin was taken in 2007. The species is still considered "functionally extinct", meaning that if there is only one of a few old creatures alive, no new ones will be born.

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Western Black Rhinoceros, 2011





A subspecies of the black rhino that lived mainly in Cameroon, the western black rhino was a victim of rampant poaching, even after protections were issued in the 1930s. Scientists searched for any signs in 2006 and came up empty, and it was offically declared extinct in 2011. The other 3 remaining subspecies of black rhinos are also critically endangered.

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Caribbean Monk Seal, 2008





Although the last one seen alive was in 1952, it wasn't until 2008 that the caribbean monk seal was finally declared extinct. Christopher Columbus recorded killing a few of these seals when he arrived in the Caribbean, and they were hunted extensively during the in the 1700s and 1800s for their blubber, which was used as oil for lamps and machinery.

According to the notes from a zookeeper at the New York Aquarium, which had a few of these seals in the early 1900s, these cheeky seals had a habit of spraying water from their mouths at visitors who leaned in too close over the railing.

The extinction of seal also mean the extinction of the Caribbean Monk Seal Nasal Mite, a gross insect that only lived inside the nose of this species of seal.

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Canarian Oystercatcher, 1994





Photo of an African black oystercatcher, which is nearly visually identical.

These shorebirds lived on the Canary Islands off the coast of west Africa, and died out due to depletion of its shellfish food source due to commercial fishing. It's unclear exactly when the last birds died, local lighthouse keepers and fishermen said they hadn't seen it by 1940, but reports of sightings happened through the '80s. By 1994, it was officially declared extinct. Only 4 specimen of stuffed birds exist in museums today.

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Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1994





After habit loss of the swamps of the southern U.S., the last definitive sighting was in the 1940s. Since then, there's been multiple reports of sightings, and a 2002 audio recording of the distinct sound it makes when pecking a tree sparked a flood of scientists and birders to come search for it. Despite some promising leads and tantalizing clues, the bird still remains officially extinct.

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Mariana Mallard, 2004





Living only on three small Pacific islands, including Guam, habitat loss from draining marshes for agriculture and damage to the islands during World War II was the main reason for this duck's extinction. The last pair of ducks were spotted in the wild in 1979, and the last known pair in captivity died at Sea World in San Diego in 1981.

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Dusky Seaside Sparrow, 1987





A native of the east coast of Florida, this species rapidly died out from DDT pesticide spaying and its habitat being taken over for use by NASA for the Kennedy Space Center. The last know bird died in 1987, and was officially declared extinct in 1990.

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Mexican Grizzly Bear, 1964





Think grizzlies only lived in cold places? The Mexican grizzly, like the grizzly that lives in the norther U.S. and Canada, are both subspecies of the brown bear. The Mexican subspecies was hunted to extinction by ranchers because the bears would kill their livestock. Only 30 were left by 1960, but by 1964 it was considered extinct.