Rare Photographs of Now Extinct Beasts
Wed, Aug 26, 2009
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Last Thylacine yawning: Note the unusual extent to which it was able to open its jaws
Photo: Photographer unknown
From panthers and pandas to rhinos and tigers, dwindling animal numbers speak of the need to step up conservation efforts – if it’s not already too late. As a kind of wake-up call, we decided to take a look at seven extinct megafauna species captured on camera. With modern photography having only been invented in the 1820s, these snapshots are visible testament to just how recently the creatures shown were wiped out – and a jarring reminder of the precarious situation for many species still left on the planet.
1. The Tarpan
Tarpan at the Moscow Zoo, published 1884
Photo: Scherer
The last Tarpan died on a Ukrainian game preserve at Askania Nova in 1876. A prehistoric type of wild horse that once roamed from Southern France and Spain eastwards to central Russia, the Tarpan died out in the wild in the late 1800s. Reasons for its extinction include the destruction of its forest and steppe habitat to make room for people; hunting by farmers averse to their crops being eaten and mares stolen; and absorption into a growing domestic horse population. There have been various attempts to recreate the Tarpan through re-breeding, resulting in horses that do at least resemble their extinct forebears.
2. The Quagga
Quagga at London’s Regent’s Park Zoo, 1870
Photo: F. York
Another extinct equine beast – this time a subspecies of zebra – the last wild Quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s, while the last specimen in captivity died in 1883 at Artis Magistra Zoo in Amsterdam. Once abundant in southern Africa, the Quagga fell victim to ruthless hunting for its meat and hide, and because it was seen by settlers as a competitor to livestock like sheep. It was the coat of the Quagga that distinguished it best, with only the front part of its body showing the zebra’s vivid striped markings. As with the Tarpan, projects to breed back the Quagga have produced favourable results, visually at least.
3. The Javan Tiger
Live Javan Tiger, taken in 1938 at Ujung Kulon
Photo: A. Hoogerwerf
The Javan Tiger was a subspecies of tiger found only on the Indonesian island of Java, until it died out as recently as the 1980s. In the early 19th century, the Javan Tiger was common all over the island, but rapid human population increase led to the destruction of its forest habitat. The Javan Tiger was also mercilessly hunted, so that by the 1950s it is thought fewer than 25 remained in the wild. Following in the tracks of the Bali Tiger, which was wiped out in the 1930s, the fate of the Javan Tiger speaks for the precarious position of the tiger species as a whole. Sightings of the subspecies persist but hopes for its survival are fading.
4. The Caspian Tiger
A captive Caspian Tiger in Berlin Zoo, 1899
Photo: Photographer unknown
Another tiger to vanish in the last century was the Caspian Tiger, the last confirmed reports of which date back to before the 1950s. Recent research suggests the Caspian Tiger was largely identical to the Siberian Tiger, but even if not a distinct subspecies, it yet had its own range and habitat. Found in the sparse forest and river basin corridors of Central and Western Asian, this big cat succumbed to intense hunting by the Russian army, who were told to exterminate it during a huge land reclamation programme in the early 1900s. Farmers followed, clearing forestland, and the loss of the Caspian Tiger’s primary prey, the boar, spelled its demise.
5. The Syrian Wild Ass
Syrian Wild Ass in London Zoo, 1872
Photo: Frederick York
The last member of this species died at Schönbrunn Zoo, Vienna in 1928. Formerly occupying the mountains, deserts and steppes between Palestine and Iraq, the Syrian Wild Ass disappeared from the Syrian desert during the 18th century, not helped by war between Palestine and Syria. It was eradicated in Northern Arabia during the 19th century, and then became most seriously threatened with World War I, when its remaining habitat was overrun with fighting forces. The rest is history. This smallest of all recent members of the horse family stood just over 3 feet high at the shoulder and was generally light in colour.
6. The Bubal Hartebeest
Female Bubal Hartebeest that lived in London Zoo from 1883 until 1897
Photo: Lewis Medland
The Bubal Hartebeest was a species of antelope that became extinct in 1923, when a captive female died in Jardin des Plantes in Paris. It was once found over much of North Africa, at least as far east as Egypt, where it was a mythological and sacrificial beast. However, by the 1900s its range was limited to Algeria and the Moroccan High Atlas mountains. Hunting throughout the 19th century drastically reduced the Bubal Hartebeest’s numbers, sealing its fate. A fawn-coloured animal that stood almost 4 feet at the shoulder, the Bubal Hartebeest was characterised by lyre-shaped horns that almost touched at the base. A beautiful beast, sadly missed.
7. The Thylacine
Thylacinus in Washington D.C. National Zoo, c. 1906
Photo: E.J. Keller
It was 1936 when the last Thylacine took its final breath in Hobart Zoo, Tasmania. Or so we think. Extremely rare if not extinct on the Australian mainland by the time of European colonisation, the Thylacine survived on the island of Tasmania alongside close cousins like the Tasmanian Devil. There, this distinctive, large-jawed beast found itself with a price on its head, as settlers blamed it for attacks on their sheep. The Thylacine was hunted to extinction by bounty hunters and farmers, though other factors such as disease, the introduction of wild dogs, and human encroachment into its habitat may have also played a part in the tragedy.
Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) photographed in a cage with a chicken
Photo: Henry Burrell
Although commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, the Thylacine was neither feline nor canine: while striped like a tiger and sharing various features with large dogs, this marsupial carnivore was wholly unrelated – and with the pouch to prove it. A favourite in cryptozoological circles, there have been numerous sightings of the Thylacine since 1936 – which continue to this day – though none have yet been confirmed. It will be a rare coup for Mother Nature if another Thylacine is ever discovered; otherwise its most vivid memory will sadly survive in little more than photographic form – another dead hero of the natural world.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
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August 26th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Thank you so much for posting this.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:44 am
One of the things that disappoints me the most regarding our civilization (if you so choose to call it that) is our reckless disregard for other creatures on this planet. How many of these animals were killed to protect sheep? Its pretty disheartening to think of the damage we’ve cause to this world.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:14 am
this is depressing and sad. I heard that if Bengal tigers aren’t protected, they will become extinct within 50 years, because of people’s greed and stupidity over their demand for tiger bones… wow… WTF
I hate people so much.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
What wrong with using tiger bone? It make good wine that make you strong! Need to have tiger bone wine if you going to be with the women, you know?
August 27th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I swear I’ve read this article somewhere else before
August 27th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
please make the ‘which are next’ addition of this.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Hatred toward people is not the answer. It is true that animal extinction can usually be traced back to human behavior or misbehavior. However, the key is in education and fostering love toward ALL living beings. That includes people, 4-legged animals, and creatures that people often kill without a second thought, such as spiders and other insects.
Promote peace and love. Educate people of all ages in compassion…. especially children as they hold the future for all of us.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I still can’t figure out why people get so bent out of shape over extinctions. How arrogant we must be that we think we are simultaneously this planet’s ultimate acheivement and its worst nightmare. Please. Compared to what this planet has been through over millions of years, and what it will experience in the millenia to come, we are a mosquito bite at best.
Species have been thriving and killing each other long before we arrived on the scene. Every organism has a natural impulse to survive, and it will do what it can to continue to be. That’s what life does best: utilize and exploit life. Every few thousand years, an organism comes along that seems to have a leg up over the rest of the competition. That just so happens to be us at this point in time. Where’s your bleeding heart for the thousands of bacteria that you murder in an instant every time you wash your hands?
Give it a few hundred-thousand more years and humanity will eventually kill itself off, or some super virus will evolve to combat our vaccines, or we will evolve into something else. Who knows? But when it happens you can all clap hands with glee. Humans as we know ourselves will become extinct, to be replaced by the next big species. Then they can have the joy of sitting around moping about how horrible they are.
August 27th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I don’t know about the rest of you but that Quagaa looks delicious!
August 27th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
When you think of an animal being extinct you mind automatically goes towards prehistoric creatures. It’s amazing and sad at the same time that there are species of animals that were living during the time of photography that no longer exist.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
What a shame of us the humanity to be so naive and still hunting animals knowing they are about to extinct. Thanx 4 posting pictures of amazing animals
August 27th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Wild Syrian Ass. I get that when I eat Taco Bell. That beast is alive and well. LOL
August 27th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
It’s funny that people fail to realize that the only thing that will survive on this planet is Mother Nature herself.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:36 am
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:52 am
The Caspian Tiger is still alive; it lives on as the Siberian Tiger. Recent studies indicate that they share 95% of the genetics with each other.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:02 am
@anon801
Your ignorance about the natural world is astounding. Nothing like this has ever happened before — a mass extinction event caused by *a single species*. Even saying that a new species *forms* “every few thousand years” is borderline retarded, let alone a species with our global ecological impact.
Of course you confuse “murder” (killing an individual of a species) with “extinction” (killing all of a species, barring them from existing ever again in the universe). And yes, species go extinct all the time, but the current rate is about a thousand times faster than before we came along.
Get lost in a tar pit, and take your ‘edgy’ nihilistic anti-ecology mock confusion with you.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:29 am
VERY GOOD ARTICLE
August 28th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I’m not gonna lie. The Tasmanian Tiger has scared the absolute hell out of me since I was little–its the only known animal that can open its jaws up to 180 degrees. Its extinction is sad, but not unwelcome.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I know species become naturally extinct over the years, but that’s not the case here. Mankind is guilty of pushing these animals to extinctions, it should be treated as a serious crime.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Even if you are really aware of this kind of destruction acts sometimes it is necessary to take a look to the face of the things we have destroyed. I hope this helps people to be conscious of what we are and what we do not want to be anymore.
Thanks for it
August 28th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
You forgot the skunk horse: http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/8163/horse.png
August 28th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Also extinct: Victoria’s sense of humor.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
They may be gone but they’ll live in our hearts and minds forever. I particularly think their some Wild Asses running around but I digress.
Here’s someone else’s career that should be extinct. A MUST LISTEN!
http://concretelyambiguous.com/category/truth-in-sound/
August 28th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
It’s funny that people fail to realize that the only thing that will survive on this planet is this imaginary construction of mine herself.
Um, there is no “Mother Nature” and if you mean “Nature” itself then you are being way to general for a system that is constantly evolving and can reasonably be expected to continue to evolve.
what’s not to realize? Nature keeps evolving, a couple dozen species go extinct and a couple hundred more are saved and thrive.
Yeah, funny people don’t realize that.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Get your facts straight. The Thylacine (or Tasmanian Tiger), was native to the island of Tasmania. It never existed on mainland Australia.
August 28th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
how interesting to see not only the pictures but the things everyone wrote about them and the others who commented about the them…hope that makes sense..it made sense to me while i type it!
August 28th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Humans suck
August 28th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
i like steak and burgers and hotdogs and chicken mmmm. we, as humans, earned the right to eat animals because they are stupid and we are smart. so i am not heartbroken over the loss of the ‘quagga’ all you need to do is get a horse and a zebra to hook up, and their back. mabie if these animals didn’t to a shitty job at living they would still be around. and mike, you are retarded (and i so choose to call you that).
August 28th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
I wish they could have taken a photo of the Dodo. :(
August 29th, 2009 at 12:13 am
feel obliged as an animal in this world to support this cause
August 29th, 2009 at 1:16 am
wow!! I am from Syria and never heard of the Syrian Wild Ass, such a shame!!
I’d like a historical note, there was never any wars between Syria and Palestine.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:47 am
I think it really shows how resilient the world is. Life goes on without these animals. New species are discovered daily.
August 29th, 2009 at 4:12 am
While depressing, this is outstanding blogging. Thanks.
August 29th, 2009 at 9:31 am
nice collections.
August 29th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
the tarpan looks just like any ordinary horse, no ?
oh btw, this list will get longer in the next few years.
August 29th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
wow…. great picture. i had never seen most before.
August 29th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Humans are a virus in this planet, some days I wish we were the ones who become extinct.
August 29th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
@chris: Get YOUR facts straight. The Thylacine is believed to have gone extinct on the mainland prior to European settlement. The Aborigines on the mainland even painted pictures of it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aboriginal_thylacine.jpg
August 30th, 2009 at 3:57 am
PHOTOSHOPPED. idiots.
August 30th, 2009 at 5:13 am
This is sad. I hope we have learned something from this. Can we all live here together?
August 30th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Long Dong you r a idiot.Because of morons like you the world is slowly dying.If you kill off everything and leave humans,WE WILL DIE!!! How the fuck will we survive?And to kill a defenseless creature to try to get into a womans pants proves that your as pathetic as the people who hunt these ENDANGERED species.If the only thing going for you is a dead animal then maybe you should just give up on trying to be with females.Because I know if some man told me that he had tiger bone wine I’d kick him in the balls punch him in the face then spit on him.By telling us you hunt animals or eat endangered species just proves to me that your a coward and have to take on a animal because your to much of a whimp to take on another man.Just think about people.If you have to take out your anger with people on animals than it proves that your to scared to confront people about your problems and your a chicken shit.I noticed this list is basically cats and equines.So how is that hunting fair?you send a pack of dogs in after the cat then come in when the tigers done and kill it and think you did the work when in fact it was the dogs and this type of hunting is not coolThen you have helpess horses or asses that are destroyed horribly.Apparently most hunters like to put the ass or horse in a small feild then hunt them.Can you say COWARD?And if anyone has a problem with what I’ve said please come see me face to face.And lets see how much of a REAL man you are.
August 30th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
jmc6657 thank you for proving the reason humans are stupid.1) we were never given the reason to eat other creatures.Really what have we done thats so wonderful?besides making the world better for us. 2)animals aren’t as stupid as you think.Your just an arrogant prick with your head up your ass.I would love for you to give us a reason as to why your so special in thinking you deserve everything.Have you saved the human race of any virus or medical problem?no. have you ever saved humanity from war?no have you just sit on your ass and used the system and not given anything back?yes.white trash pieces of shit like yourself ned to be killed.You are the type to treat animals and humans like crap because you think you deserve it.You deserve what life gives you,nothing except a misserable horrible life.Karma’s a bitch my friend and your number one on her list.
If humans were extinct from the very being what would the world be like?would it still be a vast forst,and very little deserts?the air would be clean our water would be clean same with any meat or veggies.we wouldn’t have been around to created pollution or half the bullshit the find in foods(or the planet) today.oh and “mabie if these animals didn’t to a shitty job at living they would still be around” maybe if we didn’t interfer with their lives then they could live in peace.ANd for the love of god if your going to come on here and pretend to be smart you can fucking learn to spell.Because it makes you look like a fucking idiot,oh wait you did that on your own.I can’t wait for humans to be whiped out we deserve everything we get for what we’ve done to other creatures and each other
August 30th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
animals should be protected. all animals including cows chickens pigs and anything with a substantial brain function. soy can taste better than meat or fowl. no one gets fat eating vegetables or vegetable products. have you been to america? 95% of all americans are obese from eating meat products. i say eat people: soylent green. if they are obese eat them. no different than eating pigs or cows. why do you think we call fat ugly obese people pigs?
August 31st, 2009 at 3:19 am
People are so ignorant. Yes, species go extinct naturally but it happens over thousands if not millions of years. For so many to disappear in less than a hundred years is not okay. Hunting for food is one thing; hunting for sport or protection is another. If you want to kill things for fun you’re an idiot. If you’re looking for protection build a fucking fence. There is no reason why these animals should die because of people’s selfish desires. And most importantly – eliminating one animal only leads to overpopulation of another.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:52 am
-Humans are responsible for the desapearence of all this animals. It is realy a motive to be proud of…but i don’t see human being? in this list…that is also a extinc race nowadays. Only evolved monkeys are left.
August 31st, 2009 at 5:38 pm
It is hard not to think about other animal species that will be new additions to the list of the extinct animals soon. The human race has not done a good job of protecting the beautiful creatures that share Earth with us. Humans may not be the ultimate demise of all, of course some species are doomed from the start, but we do play a large part.
August 31st, 2009 at 5:40 pm
You people who think humans don’t cause problems are ignorant. if humans weren’t on this earth, then the earth would florish all on its own. but now it has humans destroying the facade of the earth’s beauty just to make some money. humans are pathetic.
September 1st, 2009 at 6:00 am
Thank you for posting this article. It’s sad and frustrating to know so many animals have become extinct and not enough is being done to protect those that are near extinction. I hope more is done to protect the beautiful animals we still have left. @ Karen E.- well said. =]
September 1st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Interesting photographs, clearly. And interesting comments. I almost sense that those few who said that people can’t change anything and that “we are a mosquito bite at best” are trying hard to cling to indifference and claims of “it wasn’t ME who did this”.
If the world becomes a plastic dump depleted of most life forms, when will it recover? If the toxic chemicals we are smart enough to manufacture disperse world-wide, how many new life forms will evolve in such a planet. As a teen I used to do biology research experiments. I learned from experience that bacteria on a petri dish eventually fill the space and kill themselves with their own waste output. They do not recover afterwards.
The answer is to work towards completing our relatively new-born intelligence as a species. If we were very smart, instead of somewhat smart, we would be taking care of the world that keeps us alive. Promoting greater awareness and moving humanity towards a better use of intelligence and compassion is probably the only way we will survive long-term, as well as keeping the planet habitable for a wide variety of life. It is not clear where we will be in one hundred years, or one thousand years, but it seems to me we must make the effort to create a more sustainable way of life. Those who care will study this and find ways to live in more harmony with the planet and each other.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:31 pm
It is my understanding that the last picture (supposedly showing the thylacine with a chicken in its mouth) has been demonstrated to be a hoax.
The thylacine isn’t alive – it’s stuffed. The picture, however, was accepted as “proof” that the thylacines were responsible for killing chickens, and thus lended credence to the bounties.
To my understanding, thylacines were/are nocturnal hunters.
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
@chris Says:
You said “Get your facts straight. The Thylacine (or Tasmanian Tiger), was native to the island of Tasmania. It never existed on mainland Australia”
You are quite wrong. Thylacine remains have been found over wide areas of Southern Australia. Typically they are found in limestone sink holes – where they fell in and died due to lack of water and food. These remains date around the Pleistocene period.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 am
the only solution would be the extinction of the human race…stop making babies
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:26 am
These animals are amazing I would of liked to have seen them some how if they were still alive. It is sad how animals become extinct but it’s partially because of our human ways of living like destroying and building over natural habitats. We make life for animals hard plus I suppose there are a lot of people on earth so we do take up A LOT of space and RESOURCES. And there is only so much a zoo can do, I went to the Bronx zoo like 8 months ago and I saw the animals in there life really seems to suck for them, depression does affect a animals life span. Just stop killing them off, stop making cities, stop building. I’m admirer of nature and it sucks everything just gets killed over, I live in NY and I read about the history of earlier times, there were forest and caves but they don’t exist anymore why? humans cut them down to make towns building etc… I really think animals will become scarce one day if people keep destroying and hunting
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
In about 60 years most of you people who are so sad about these poor animals will be dead anyway. So stop worrying about humanity and what they do, and go and hug a tree or do something…blah…blah…blah
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:50 pm
These animals are not going extinct, remember they are evolving just like the Dinosaurs did, after a long while of being hunted and killed for food they regressed and shrank so they could hide from us like we did. Now when I jog they scatter and their fast on the sidewalk.
Id love to see all of you protector’s of the earth be dropped off in some wild fully-inhabited ,oh that’s right the animals already have “95% OF THE PLANET TO THEMSELVES’S ALREADY” area and see who needs who’s help. You people are Pathetic you better worry about your Country and your people in it. Because if we lose this Country no one will care about the poor little mooshoo turtle that can’t cross the street.
And you people hater’s that can’t stand life? Well Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s out of jail. God gave us Dominion over the Earth not the other way around. He will punish the abuser’s . They will reap what they sow. Good Evening.
P.S: “I Hunt People”
September 4th, 2009 at 2:49 am
This is a short list, you should post one on extinction in Australia, we have the worst record by far as we have wiped out over 200 hundred mammals alone in just over 200 years. That really puts things into perspective, countries like Syria & Sumatra have cultures going back thousands of years, it took then all that time to do the damage but we have out-killed them in no time at all. While your at it you should provide a list of the megafauna hunted to extinction by Aboriginal society before our arrival, the old fire stick farming had nothing to do with good land management, it is one of the reasons for the dominance of dry schlerophyll vegetation in this country & the lack of large predators & grazers.
September 4th, 2009 at 2:57 am
Yes, it’s too bad to lose various species, but you’ve got to remember – the earth’s been here for what, millions of years? Billions? An awful lot of species came and went, developed and went extinct, without man’s having anything to do with it.
September 5th, 2009 at 12:21 am
most of them had stripes
September 5th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
This is really sad. So many animals are still dying out exclusively because of the human activity and stupidity.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:17 am
It made me sad to scroll through and see these photographs of last animals. I feel very privileged to have been able to see an orangutan in the wild in Borneo two years ago. That opportunity will not last long unless radical changes are made.
September 6th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Some day we will see the picture of a human in this list, maybe in a web page of some extraterrestrial culture.
Human: extinct by itself. It was one of the most stupid creatures that destroy itself and the rest of live in his planet.
September 7th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Depressing indeed! Wish we could preserve the existing species somehow. Let us try our best.
September 7th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Wow those animals were amazing but most of them were in cages and that made me feel for them..they should have beeen free and probably had to have many tests on them to figure out what they were.
September 7th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Incredible…
Seeing these photos only saddens me though, thinking just how selfish humankind is.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 am
There is no way of proving for sure that all these animals are extinct
After all there are pterodactyl type creatures living in the jungles of Africa and “science” is telling us that they have been extinct for millions and millions of years
October 1st, 2009 at 9:29 pm
OMG the Thycaline is soooo cute i cant believe its extinct
October 30th, 2009 at 7:30 am
OMG Andy…. your comment has made legendary status!! I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.. I’ve now told everyone I know about your funnyness and even pasted it on facebook! the Quaggaa looks delicious comment is a household phrase!!
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
November 1st, 2009 at 4:30 pm
animal rights big up
December 12th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I truely love all living things and sometimes I just really want to stop all the unncessessary killing.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Truly sad that humans don´t do much to save animals like these from extinction.