# Animals Brought Back From The Brink of Extinction **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769 "2015-03-11T17:54:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/21 "2015-03-12T02:45:35Z")
Likewise the [Humpback Whale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale) ( _Megaptera novaeangliae_ which means “big-winged New Englander”). > [@Wikipedia article](#): > > Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a moratorium was introduced in 1966. While stocks have since partially recovered, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution continue to impact the 80,000 humpbacks worldwide. Note the mention “Like other large whales” there. Lots of large whales got hunted to near extinction. The rorqual (baleen) whale populations, mostly, have been very slow to recover. The Gray Whale population seems to be an exception, which has recovered substantially faster than a lot of the other species. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/22 "2015-03-12T13:30:11Z")
The [Blue Iguana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_iguana) (_Cyclura lewisi_) dropped to an estimated wild population of 5-15 individuals in 2003 before becoming functionally extinct in the wild by 2005. The Blue Iguana was considered critically endangered with only a small captive population remaining. Through the efforts of the [Blue Iguana Recovery Program](http://www.blueiguana.ky/) the population has rebounded somewhat with a small wild population reestablished. BY 2012 the wild population was estimated at 750 individuals. Now the Blue Iguana is merely considered endangered. So not exactly common, but definitely moving in the right direction. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/23 "2015-03-12T13:37:24Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Canadian geese. Either that or every blasted one of them has relocated to Nassau County, Long Island. This one must be a success story of some kind. As a kid, I don’t remember seeing them at all. More to the point, I don’t recall the parkland around the local pond being a minefield of Canada Goose Poop – and I think I certainly would have remembered _that_. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/24 "2015-03-12T14:21:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The most extraordinary story I know is the [Chatham Island Black Robin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_robin), which at one point was reduced to a population of 5, only one of which was a reproductive female. Through extraordinary efforts by the New Zealand Wildlife Service the species was brought back from the brink and now has more than 200 individuals. > > I am glad to have had Don Merton, the lead officer on this project, as a colleague when I worked for the New Zealand Wildlife Service in the early 1980s. > [@Knorf](#): > > My current favorite: these amazing giant, walking-stick-like insects, “[tree lobsters](http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/02/24/147367644/six-legged-giant-finds-secret-hideaway-hides-for-80-years)”: _Dryococelus australis_. They’re awesome. They were thought extinct, wiped out by rats. About 24 were found on a single, scrawny bush on this island with a crazy steep peak that looks like it must be something out of fiction. Now there are about 700 of these gentle giant bugs in a captive breeding program. They will survive! > > The story about them makes me very happy. Very cool. And it’s a small world. A good friend of mine is/was an ornithologist with the New Zealand Department of Conservation and started work there in the late 80s. You may have crossed paths, Colibri. Pete became an expert in island eradication of predators. Fast forward to recent times and he left DOC to work on a project, eradication on…Lord Howe Island. Fascinating, interesting, and frustrating. Unfortunately the residents of Lord Howe Island are divided as to whether conservation work should take place at all. :smack: In fact the project has been suspended and Pete is back home. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/25 "2015-03-12T15:26:04Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [California Condor.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_condor) I would strongly object to that population being labeled “close to thriving”. The entire population closely managed by us hoo-mans and would likely go extinct very quickly should we stop that management. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/26 "2015-03-12T15:53:36Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > [American Bison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison) (_Bison Bison_): Also hunted to near extinction. A few specimens exist in the wild, others exist on private reserves, and others are being raised for livestock. One thing to keep in mind about the bison is that around 95% of the “bison” now in existence are in fact bison-cattle hybrids; as indicated in that reference, it is estimated that the number of pure bison is about 15,000 to 25,000. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/27 "2015-03-12T16:08:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Likewise the [Humpback Whale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale) ( _Megaptera novaeangliae_ which means “big-winged New Englander”). > > Note the mention “Like other large whales” there. Lots of large whales got hunted to near extinction. The rorqual (baleen) whale populations, mostly, have been very slow to recover. The Gray Whale population seems to be an exception, which has recovered substantially faster than a lot of the other species. This makes me wonder what whale species actually were hunted to extinction before they were identified and described by scientists. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/28 "2015-03-12T16:16:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This one must be a success story of some kind. As a kid, I don’t remember seeing them at all. More to the point, I don’t recall the parkland around the local pond being a minefield of Canada Goose Poop – and I think I certainly would have remembered _that_. Now, people just _wish_ that Canada Geese were endangered. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/29 "2015-03-12T16:32:05Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Now, people just _wish_ that Canada Geese were endangered. You hate geeses to pieces! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/30 "2015-03-12T16:54:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I would strongly object to that population being labeled “close to thriving”. The entire population closely managed by us hoo-mans and would likely go extinct very quickly should we stop that management. One of the last remnants of the Pleistocene megafauna. That Condor really doesnt have a niche anymore. No more mastodon carcasses to eat. 😛 Interestingly the Raven population in CA has really perked up, due to the fact they are fast & smart enough to eat roadkill, whilst the regular buzzards etc take off too slow to avoid getting run over- and becoming more roadkill. The Peregrine falcon is another example of a bird adapting to humans- it now lives on tall buildings and eats pigeons. Plenty of both in any city. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/31 "2015-03-12T17:11:50Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _The Large Breasted Bed Thrasher_ I’ve found the name of my rock band! > [@Colibri](#): > > The [Kakapo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakapo), a large, flightless, nocturnal New Zealand parrot, was reduced to only about 40-50 birds in the early 1990s. Since then, through intensive conservation efforts, the population has grown to about 120 birds. > > When I was with the New Zealand Wildlife Service in the early 1980s, I helped with some parts of the Kakapo recovery program. I worked with the translocation program on Little Barrier Island, which was my main research site for another species I was studying, the Stitchbird. I helped release or catch 5 birds on the island, about 10% of the know population at the time. I also worked with the radiotracking studies of other birds on Stewart Island, and went on survey trips by helicopter into some of the most remote valleys in Fiordland to try to track down some of the last remaining males on the South Island. This is the one I was thinking of. I read [Last Chance to See](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Chance_to_See#Book) recently and after reading the sad story of how they were so desperately endangered in the '80s, I was glad to see they came back. ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/32 "2015-03-12T17:22:31Z")
I don’t know if they were on the brink of extinction, but hereabouts there has been a grassroots movement to bring back the[Eastern Bluebird](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_bluebirdhttp://). Plans were made available for how to build a bluebird house, many people did so, and now bluebird sightings are, if not common, definitely on the rise. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/33 "2015-03-12T17:54:41Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Why would a Dane want a Canada goose inside of them, and where would a Dane put one? Do Danes not eat goose? People from some other countries do. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/34 "2015-03-12T18:11:48Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This makes me wonder what whale species actually were hunted to extinction before they were identified and described by scientists. I’m not seeing any mentions of species actually hunted to full extinction, but many species hunted to near extinction. The Baji, or Chinese River Dolphin, was declared extinct in 2006 due to industrialization of its river environment. The Atlantic population of the Gray Whale went extinct due to over-hunting. Many other species were greatly depleted and have only slowly recovered. [10 of the most endangered whales on Earth](http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/10-of-the-most-endangered-whales-on-earth) [10 Recently Extinct Animals](http://listverse.com/2009/07/25/10-recently-extinct-animals/). See #1 (at the bottom of the page) for more detailed description of the demise of the Chinese River Dolphin. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/35 "2015-03-12T18:26:56Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The [Kakapo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakapo), a large, flightless, nocturnal New Zealand parrot, was reduced to only about 40-50 birds in the early 1990s. Since then, through intensive conservation efforts, the population has grown to about 120 birds. > > When I was with the New Zealand Wildlife Service in the early 1980s, I helped with some parts of the Kakapo recovery program. I worked with the translocation program on Little Barrier Island, which was my main research site for another species I was studying, the Stitchbird. I helped release or catch 5 birds on the island, about 10% of the know population at the time. I also worked with the radiotracking studies of other birds on Stewart Island, and went on survey trips by helicopter into some of the most remote valleys in Fiordland to try to track down some of the last remaining males on the South Island. Love the Kakapo. It’s just so adorable! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/36 "2015-03-12T18:29:24Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’m not seeing any mentions of species actually hunted to full extinction, but many species hunted to near extinction. The Baji, or Chinese River Dolphin, was declared extinct in 2006 due to industrialization of its river environment. The Atlantic population of the Gray Whale went extinct due to over-hunting. Many other species were greatly depleted and have only slowly recovered. > > [10 of the most endangered whales on Earth](http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/10-of-the-most-endangered-whales-on-earth) > > [10 Recently Extinct Animals](http://listverse.com/2009/07/25/10-recently-extinct-animals/). See #1 (at the bottom of the page) for more detailed description of the demise of the Chinese River Dolphin. It is interesting that no _successful species of land mammalian megafauna_ has become extinct in the last few centuries, where guns made hunting so much easier. On your list the Thylacine doesnt quite qualify as megafauna. Quagga, Pyrenean Ibex , bubal hartebeest, & Javan Tigers are all subspecies. It’s quite possible that some subspecies of whale were hunted to extinction before being identified. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/37 "2015-03-12T18:35:05Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’m not seeing any mentions of species actually hunted to full extinction, but many species hunted to near extinction. The Baji, or Chinese River Dolphin, was declared extinct in 2006 due to industrialization of its river environment. The Atlantic population of the Gray Whale went extinct due to over-hunting. Many other species were greatly depleted and have only slowly recovered. > > [10 of the most endangered whales on Earth](http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/10-of-the-most-endangered-whales-on-earth) > > [10 Recently Extinct Animals](http://listverse.com/2009/07/25/10-recently-extinct-animals/). See #1 (at the bottom of the page) for more detailed description of the demise of the Chinese River Dolphin. We really didn’t have the desire or the technology to hunt whales to excess until the 1800s, so probably no whales were rendered extinct (by human action) before they were known to science. It’s not like they were on the land where we could eat them easily. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/38 "2015-03-12T20:16:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > One of the last remnants of the Pleistocene megafauna. That Condor really doesnt have a niche anymore. No more mastodon carcasses to eat. 😛 > > Interestingly the Raven population in CA has really perked up, due to the fact they are fast & smart enough to eat roadkill, whilst the regular buzzards etc take off too slow to avoid getting run over- and becoming more roadkill. > > The Peregrine falcon is another example of a bird adapting to humans- it now lives on tall buildings and eats pigeons. Plenty of both in any city. I think the Ca raven population boon can be partially credited to the startling population boom. The ravens have become experts at raiding the nests and eating the young. The starting breed around industrail building and canopies and are easy pickings for the ravens. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/39 "2015-03-12T20:18:07Z")
Przewalski horse European bison ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769/40 "2015-03-12T20:23:02Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Do Danes not eat goose? People from some other countries do. Hey, it’s **Anne Neville**! Hi there! How’s that baby doing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction/714769.md?page=1)