Baiji  “Goddess of the Yangtze”

Declared extinct: 2006

Baiji was a dolphin that lived in the Yangtse River in China. Its population was in thousands in the mid 1950s, but began to decline rapidly because of illegal haunting practices, pollution and large transport vessels crossing the river frequently.

Western Black Rhinoceros

Declared extinct: 7 July 2006

It was a wide-spread animal that lived in central-west Africa, early illegal haunting actions in the early twentieth century caused a rapid decline in its population., and by 2000 only 10 were estimated to be alive.

Pyrenean Ibex

Declared extinct: 2000

The Pyrenean Ibex was a wild-mountain goat that was widespread across the Pyrenees in France and Spain. Scientist disagree on the reason of extinction, but it is believed that the inability to compete for food with other animals, diseases and illegal haunting were the reasons for its extinction.

A few attempts were made to clone the animal,  the last attempt was in 2009 when a clone was born alive but died shortly afterwards due to lung failure.

Sturdee’s Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus Sturdeei)

© The Natural History Museum, London

Declared extinct: 2000

 A bat once lived in Bonin Islands,  Japan. Little is known about the its population and what caused it to become extinct.