The Black Book of Animals. The Black Book of Russia: Animals

We all know about the existence of the Red Book. It includes rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. However, very few people know that there is also a Black Book of animals and plants. It contains a list of extinct and irretrievably disappeared species.

Introduction

The idea of creating a Red Book of animals and plants appeared in the middle of the last century. And already in 1966 the first copy of the edition was published, including a description of more than one hundred species of mammals, 200 species of birds, and more than 25 thousand plants. Thus, scientists tried to draw public attention to the problem of the disappearance of some representatives of the flora and fauna of our planet. However, such a move did not really help in resolving this issue. So, every year the Red Book is constantly replenished with new species names. Few people know that there are also black pages of the Red Book. The animals and plants listed on them are irrevocably extinct. Unfortunately, in the overwhelming majority of cases this happened as a result of the irrational and barbarous attitude of man to the nature of our planet. The Red and Black books of animals today serve not so much as a signal, but as a cry for help to all people of the Earth in connection with the need to stop using natural resources exclusively for their own purposes. In addition, they carry information about the importance of a more attentive attitude to the wonderful world around us, populated by a huge number of amazing and unique creatures. The Black Book of Animals today covers the period from 1500 to the present day. Turning the pages of this edition, we can find with horror that during this time about a thousand species of animals have completely died out, not to mention plants. Unfortunately, most of them have become, directly or indirectly, human victims.

Black Animal Book: List

Since it is quite problematic to cover all species that have completely disappeared from our planet within the framework of one article, it will be necessary to dwell on some of them. We suggest considering extinct fauna representatives living in Russia, as well as outside it.

The Black Book of Russia

Animals on the territory of our country today are represented by more than 1500 varieties. However, species diversity both in Russia and abroad is rapidly declining. This is mainly due to the fault of the person. Especially a large number of species died out during the last two centuries. Therefore, we also have a Black Book of Russia. Animals listed on its pages have irretrievably died out. And today many representatives of the native fauna can be seen except in pictures in the encyclopedia or, at best, in the form of stuffed animals in museums. We suggest to get acquainted with some of them.

Staller Cormorant

This species of birds was discovered in 1741 during the expedition to Kamchatka Vitus Bering. The cormorant received its name after a naturalist named Steller, who first described it in detail. Representatives of this species were large and rather slow. They settled in large colonies, but could only escape from danger on the water. People very quickly appreciated the taste qualities of stalker cormorant meat. And thanks to the simplicity of hunting for a bird, her uncontrolled extermination began. As a result, the last stalker cormorant was killed in 1852. Only a hundred years have passed since the opening of the species ...

Steller's cow

The black book of extinct animals also describes one more species discovered during the Vitus Bering expedition in 1741. His ship under the name "Saint Peter" crashed near the shores of the island, later named after the discoverer. The team was forced to stay here for the winter and eat the meat of unusual animals, who were nicknamed cows because they ate only the sea grass. These creatures were huge and slow. Their weight often reached up to ten tons. The meat of the sea cows turned out to be very tasty and useful. The hunt for these harmless giants was not difficult, since the animals calmly ate seaweed near the shore, were not able to hide from danger in the depths and were not at all afraid of man. As a result, after the completion of the Bering expedition, cruel hunters arrived to the islands, destroying the entire population of sea cows for some three decades.

Caucasian bison

The black book of animals includes such a magnificent creature as the Caucasian bison. These mammals once inhabited vast areas from the Caucasus mountains to northern Iran. The first mention of this species dates back to the 17th century. However, the number of the Caucasian bison began to fall very quickly due to uncontrolled destruction by its man, as well as the reduction of pasture areas. So, if in the middle of the 19th century there were about two thousand representatives of this species on the territory of Russia, then after the First World War, they remained no more than half a thousand. During the civil war, the population uncontrolledly destroyed the Caucasian bison because of their meat and skins. As a result, in 1920 the population of these animals numbered no more than a hundred individuals. The government urgently established a reserve, designed to protect this species from extinction. But until its creation in 1924, only 15 Caucasian bisons survived. However, protection from the state could not protect them from the guns of poachers. As a result, the last three representatives of this species were killed by shepherds in 1926 on Mount Alous.

Transcaucasian tiger

Extermination on the part of man was not only harmless and vulnerable animals. In the black book there are a number of quite dangerous predators, including the Transcaucasian (or Turanian) tiger. The population of this species of mammals was completely destroyed in 1957. The Transcaucasian tiger was quite large (weighing up to 240 kilograms) and a very beautiful predator with a long fur of bright red color. Representatives of this species lived in the territory of such modern states as Iran, Pakistan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan (southern part) and Turkey. According to scientists, the Transcaucasian tiger is the closest relative of the Amur. The disappearance of these remarkable animals in Central Asia is associated, first of all, with the arrival of Russian settlers on this territory. They found the predator too dangerous and opened the door to him. Thus, even the troops of the regular army were used to destroy tigers. Also, the expansion of human economic activities in the habitat of these animals played an important role in the process of extinction of this species. The last cossack tiger was seen in 1957 on the territory of the USSR in Turkmenistan, near the border with Iran.

Extinct fauna representatives inhabiting outside Russia and the USSR

Now we propose to find out what information the Black Book of the World contains. The animals listed on its pages disappeared from the surface of the earth also mainly as a result of human activities.

Rodriguez parrot

The first descriptions of this species date back to 1708. The Rodriguez parrot inhabited the Mascarene Islands, located 650 kilometers east of Madagascar. The body of the bird was about half a meter long. This parrot was distinguished by a bright green-orange plumage, which ruined it. To get beautiful feathers, people began to hunt uncontrolled birds of this species. As a result, by the end of the 18th century, the parrots were completely exterminated.

Falkland Fox

The population of some representatives of fauna was reduced gradually, over many tens, and even hundreds of years. But some of the animals listed in the Black Book were subjected to a truly quick and brutal reprisal. Representatives of these unfortunate species include the Falkland Fox (or the Falkland wolf). All information about this species is based only on the small number of museum exhibits and notes of travelers. These animals lived in the Falkland Islands. The height at the withers of these animals was sixty centimeters, they had a very beautiful reddish-brown fur. The Falkland Fox was able to bark like a dog and ate mostly birds, larvae and carrion thrown on the island by the sea. In 1860, the Falkland Islands were captured by the Scots, who liked the fur of the local chanterelles. They quickly began to be brutally exterminated: shoot, poison poison, strangle gas in holes. With all this, the Falkland Foxes were very trusting and friendly, easily went to contact with a person and could very well become excellent pets. But the last Falkland wolf was destroyed in 1876. Thus, in just 16 years, a man completely exterminated a whole species of unique mammals. All that remains of the once-numerous population of Falkland Foxes are eleven museum exhibits in London, Stockholm, Brussels and Leiden.

Dodo

Animals from the Black Book have in their ranks and the legendary bird with the bizarre name of the dodo. Many of her description is familiar from Lewis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderland, where she was mentioned under the name of Dodo. Drones were quite large creatures. In height, they reached one meter, and their weight was from 10 to 15 kilograms. These birds could not fly and moved solely on the ground, like, for example, ostriches. Drones had a long strong and powerful pointed beak, whose length could reach 23 centimeters. Due to the need to move only on the surface of the earth, the paws of these birds were long and strong, while the wings were very small. These amazing animals were inhabited on the island of Mauritius. For the first time the dodo was described in 1598 by Dutch navigators who arrived on the island. Since the appearance of humans in the range of their habitat, these birds have become frequent victims, both as people who have assessed the taste of their meat and their pets. As a result of this attitude, the dodo was completely destroyed. The last representative of this species was seen in Mauritius in 1662. Thus, not even a century has passed since the Europeans opened the dodo. It is interesting that people realized that this species no longer exists, only half a century after its disappearance from the face of the earth. The destruction of the dodo became, perhaps, the first precedent in history, when mankind thought about the fact that people could be the cause of the extinction of whole species of animals.

Marsupial wolf tilatsin

The Black Book of Animals includes such a unique creature as the marsupial wolf. He lived in New Zealand and Tasmania. This species was the only representative of the family. Thus, with his disappearance, we will never again be able to look at the marsupial wolf with our own eyes. This species was first described by English explorers in 1808. In ancient times, these animals lived in vast areas of Australia. However, later they were forced out of their natural habitat by dingo dogs. Their population was preserved only in places where dingoes were not present. At the beginning of the XIX century the marsupial wolf was expecting another misfortune. Representatives of this species began to mass destroy, as it was believed that they harmed the farms that were engaged in breeding sheep and chickens. Due to the uncontrolled extermination of the marsupials, by 1863 their population had significantly decreased.

These animals from the Black Book met only in remote mountain areas. Perhaps this species would have survived if it had not been for the epidemic of some disease that happened in the beginning of the 20th century, it is likely the canine plague brought here along with the domestic animals of the migrants. Unfortunately, the marsupial wolf was exposed to this disease, as a result of which only a tiny part of the former large population remained alive. In 1928 representatives of this species were once again unlucky. Despite the fact that the law on the protection of the Tasmanian fauna was adopted, the marsupial wolf was not included in the list of species protected by the government. The last wild species representative was killed in 1936. And even six years later, the last marsupial wolf, who was kept in a private zoo, died of old age. However, despite the fact that this species includes the Black Book of Animals, there is a phantom hope that somewhere high in the mountains in impenetrable thickets some marsupial wolves still managed to survive, and sooner or later they will be found to try to restore the population of these Unique mammals.

Quagga

These animals were a subspecies of zebras, but differed markedly from their brethren due to their unique coloration. So, the front part of the animals was striped, like the zebras, and the rear one - monochromatic. In nature, they met in South Africa. Interestingly, the quagga is the only species extinct to date, which has been tamed by man. Farmers quickly estimated the reaction rate of these zebras. So, grazing next to a herd of goats or sheep, they were the first to notice any danger, and warned the rest of their hoofed brethren.

Because of this, they were valued at times more than shepherds or guard dogs. Why did a man destroy such valuable animals, is still not entirely clear to scientists. However, the last quagga was killed in 1878.

Passenger pigeon

Until the XIX century, representatives of this species were one of the most common birds on earth. The size of their population was estimated at 3-5 billion individuals. They were small and very cute birds with brownish-reddish plumage. The wandering dove was inhabited in North America and Canada. The number of these birds gradually decreased in the period from 1800 to 1870. And then this species began to be destroyed on a catastrophic scale. Some people believed that these birds cause damage to farming. Others killed traveling pigeons solely for fun. Some "hunters" held even competitions, during which it was necessary as beautiful as possible to kill the maximum number of birds. As a result, the last wandering pigeon was seen in nature in 1900. The only surviving representative of this species, nicknamed Martha, died of old age in September 1914 at the zoo in the American city of Cincinnati.

So, today we learned what the Black Book is. About the animals listed on its pages, we can only regret. However, in our power to do everything possible to stop the extermination of the now existing species. After all, man, as the king of nature, is responsible for our lesser brothers.