Extinction: Examples and Reasons part 3

Today I’m going to share with you about some extinct animals, that have become extinct this century.

Then share with you the most endangered animal on the planet, that could soon (in a matter of years) become extinct.

1 Vietnamese Javan Rhinoceros

In April of 2010, poachers shot the world’s last Vietnamese Javan Rhino, which I do find sad and crazy to believe.

The Vietnamese Javan Rhino lived very much like the common Javan rhino living today. The common Javan rhino (which is a subspecies) live in the protected Ujung Kulon National Park in western Java. Fewer than 100 remain in the wild. This animal can be found in deep parts of the jungle, and sometimes swim in small shallow rivers. The Javan Rhino is a solitary species, except for mothers and calves. The diet of this animal consists of shoots, twigs, young foliage and fallen fruit. Like many rhinos, they wallow in pools of mud to cool down in the tropical heat, and rid themselves of bugs. Humans are their only predators. The rhino’s main defense is to retreat into the jungle. Rhinos are hunted for their horns.

The last Vietnamese Javan Rhino went extinct due to it’s valuable horn. Rhinoceros horns are used as part of Chinese medicine to treat cancer, but there is no evidence to support that it truly works. One day, we might see them again with our Lord Jesus, who created this incredible beast.

2 Baiji River Dolphin

At home, I have a nature documentary dvd that I call a “Time Capsule”. In this 1996 documentary, it featured a dolphin that was still alive in the Yangtze river in China! This dolphin was also called the Baiji. However, in 2006, the species was declared extinct, due to the loss of it’s fresh water habitat, pollution, and for other reasons. It’s crazy that the dolphin I saw in that documentary is now gone with the rest of them.

These beautiful creatures grew to be about 7 to 8 feet long, and weighed 298–507 pounds. Their diet consisted of catfish and any other river creatures it could swallow. They lived mostly in small groups of about 3 or 4, but would probably come together with other pods to make a number of about 9 or 16.

The last baiji on earth named Qi Qi, was rescued in 1980, and lived to be 22 years old, and died in 2002.

3 Splendid Poison Frog

This species of poison frog was once endemic to the humid lowland, and montane forest of western Panama. It was considered extinct in 2020, due to habitat loss. Like other poison frogs (there are hundreds of poison frog species), they ate ants and termites, which is how all poison frogs (or poison dart and arrow frogs) skin becomes toxic. By God’s design, poison frogs eat their prey and the body extracts chemicals out of their food which goes into their skin, to make it poisonous. What’s fascinating is that scientists aren’t even sure how their bodies make that happen. The bright colors are a warning to predators that they are toxic.

4 Black-faced Honeycreeper

Black-faced honeycreeper, was a small songbird, native to the Hawaiian island of Maui. There are many possible reasons for it’s extinction like introduced predators such as cats, pigs, rats, and mongooses. Other reasons are mosquito-borne diseases, habitat loss, and the decline of one of its favorite prey, tree snails. It was not just snails they ate, they also ate spiders and insects. It’s favorite place to nest was the native ‘ōhi‘a lehua forests. The last sighting of the bird was November 26, 2004. In 2019 it was considered extinct.

Close to Extinction: Northern White Rhinoceros

In the very early 1900’s, there were about 2,000 Northern white rhinos, still living on the plains of sub-Saharan Africa. This number continued to decline over the years. Due to hunting and habitat loss, there are only two females left today, a mother and daughter!

The differences between a black and white rhino is all in the mouth. White rhinos have wide mouths used for munching grass. The black rhino has prehensile lips, used for grabbing leaves from bushes. The Northern white rhinoceros is the most endangered animal in the world! When they die they will become extinct, forever.

The Gospel and Death and New Life

I find it sad and crazy to believe that some animals I have in picture books are gone forever.

This year, my family has had some strange wildlife encounters in our neighborhood. One of my neighbors spotted a deer not far from my house. My mom was out for a walk one day and saw a weasel. One morning when my dad was leaving for work, he spotted a bunny on our front lawn, under a tree!

One of the reasons animals are moving into our neighborhoods is because of habitat loss, or over hunting.

Death came into the world from Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden, which is what we see today. But in the new Heaven and new Earth, Jesus Himself will make things all for good again! In the book of Isaiah, God describes how animals will react in Heaven. The wolf shall lie with the lamb, and the lion shall eat grass like the ox, and a child can stick his hand in the hole of a viper! Hopefully the Lord will allow some of the animals that have become extinct recently to be apart of the new Heaven, and new Earth.

God bless you all!

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp ( or viper) , and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea”. Isaiah 11:6-9