Many species have become extinct over the course of relatively modern natural history, but we think of them as ancient or prehistoric. Right! Wrong!

Here is a list of some animals that have become extinct in the last 100 years.

1. The quagga, which was once seen all over the Cape of Africa, has been extinct since 1883. It was an African half horse and half zebra that were hunted till there were no more.
2. The Tasmanian Tiger, which roamed Australia and the Island of Tasmania, has been extinct since 1936. It was hunted to extinction.
3. The Caspian Tiger or Persian Tiger as it was called by some became extinct in 1940’s (www.liarweb.org). These were very large tigers that were hunted to death.
4. The Great Auks, the largest of the penguin species of flightless birds living in the cold regions of earth became extinct in the 1844. This animal was found in Greenland, Iceland, Canada, Ireland and Norway at one time. Hunted for sport and by collectors.
5. The DoDo, was a flightless bird, which became extinct three years after Portuguese sailors discovered them on the island of Mauritius. Human disruption of the eco-system on the island, by introducing dogs and feral pigs eradicated the DoDo birds within 3 years. In 1681 all the DoDo birds were gone, the species extinct directly due a collision with humans.

It is very interesting to note that many animals have met their fate of extinction at the hands of the species that was supposed to be the steward of the earth and all creatures “great and small”.