# Has an animal ever been intentionally made extinct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950 "2002-08-15T02:43:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/1 "2002-08-15T02:43:29Z")
I was listening to the radio today and they were talking about all the wonderful pestilence that mosquitoes spread around. West Nile virus and all. I recall that one of the big accomplishments during the building of the Panama Canal was essentially killing all the mosquitoes in the area, stopping the yellow fever that had previously been a serious problem. To the question… Has this ever been done on a wider scale? To the level of actually making an animal extinct as an end in itself, rather than as an unfortunate side effect? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/2 "2002-08-15T03:12:48Z")
Um, I was not aware that they were able to “kill all” of the mosquitos in Panama. I thought they were only able to bring their breeding under a certain amount of control by eliminating obvious sources of standing water, but as for “killing all” of them… I doubt that. [http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/reed.html](http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/reed.html) > [@](#): > > By controlling the mosquitoes’ breeding places—cleaning out gutters and emptying water receptacles—yellow fever was subsequently swept from the island of Cuba. In like manner, the Panama Canal Zone was later freed from the death-dealing wrath of the infected insect. Otherwise, are you counting single-cell organisms? Because… [http://www.luhs.org/health/topics/bioterrorism/smallpox.htm](http://www.luhs.org/health/topics/bioterrorism/smallpox.htm) > [@](#): > > In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox extinct… ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/3 "2002-08-15T03:58:43Z")
Definitely. The Thylacine was (Tasmanian Tiger) was deliberately wiped out in the 19th Century in Australia. Thylacine was a large (roughly the size of a large dog) carnivorous marsupial. There were bounties and eradication programs. The last one died in a zoo in Tasmania in the early 20th Century (I think). I’ll try to find a cite ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/4 "2002-08-15T04:01:29Z")
Here’s a cite from the Australian Museum. It includes photos and a short discussion. [http://www.austmus.gov.au/thylacine/](http://www.austmus.gov.au/thylacine/) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/5 "2002-08-15T04:15:04Z")
They came darn close with the [bison hunts of the 1870’s.](http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/ice/buffalo.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/6 "2002-08-15T04:19:40Z")
The dodo was made extinct. So was the passenger pigeon. Those acts were as intentional as human acts get, given the brazen disregard we showed those animals. ---
**Author:** ![Rockford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Rockford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rockford)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/7 "2002-08-15T04:47:50Z")
> [@](#): > > SmackFu– > I recall that one of the big accomplishments during the building of the Panama Canal was essentially killing all the mosquitoes in the area, stopping the yellow fever that had previously been a serious problem. To the question… Killing off all mosquitoes…Wildest Bill, is that you? 🙂 Kidding aside though, I’ll add that like the Dodo, the Great Auk was also made extinct from overhunting because it was flightless. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/8 "2002-08-15T04:48:39Z")
The Stellar’s Sea Cow was hunted to extinction about 200 years ago, along with the [spectacled cormorant](http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/wildlife/geninfo/game/extinct.htm) . The sea cow only lasted [27](http://www.amiq.org/galleries/seacow/seacow.html) years once humans discovered it until it was wiped out for good. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/9 "2002-08-15T04:54:50Z")
Those examples of species that were killed through hunting for its own sake are all well and good, but read the OP closely: _To the level of actually making an animal extinct as an end in itself, rather than as an unfortunate side effect?_ So those don’t qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/10 "2002-08-15T04:54:52Z")
**Rockford** and **mmmiiikkkeee** I think the OP was looking for examples of where the animals were deliberatley made extinct as an end in itself rather than just through sheer stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/11 "2002-08-15T04:57:21Z")
nitpicking a nitpick :eek: > [@](#): > > In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox extinct… Both the USA and Russia retain laboratory [stocks of the smallpox virus](http://www.miis.edu/offsite_press/New%20York%20Times%20Nov%2016,%202001.htm) ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/12 "2002-08-15T05:10:09Z")
The beaver, brown bear and wolf were hunted to extinction[in the UK](http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/endanger.htm) . The latter two at least would be regarded as deliberate actions. However I don’t know whether they were distinct subspecies to the surviving populations elsewhere in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Rockford](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Rockford](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rockford)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/13 "2002-08-15T06:38:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Motog– > Rockford and mmmiiikkkeee I think the OP was looking for examples of where the animals were deliberatley made extinct as an end in itself rather than just through sheer stupidity. There’s not necessarily much of a distinction between those two things though. In some cases, like the sea cow someone mentioned, I would say that they did deliberately cause the extinction. Those people had to have known that that species was disappearing, but they continued to systematically kill them off. They just didn’t have the capacity to understand what the implications of making a species extinct are. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/14 "2002-08-15T07:24:41Z")
Add the [Great Auk](http://www.birdsofna.org/excerpts/auk.html) to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/15 "2002-08-15T07:37:41Z")
I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that citing the smallpox virus is definitely pushing the definition of “animal”. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/16 "2002-08-15T07:41:44Z")
Oh, and isn’t there some evidence (or is it only speculation) that prehistoric humans deliberately extinguished some of their (our!) hominid competitors? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/17 "2002-08-15T07:51:29Z")
I think the OP was asking for examples of species driven to extinction _simply for the purpose of getting rid of them_, and not for any other reason. This would not include species that were hunted to extinction, because the motive there was for meat or fur or what have you. I don’t think there have been any. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/18 "2002-08-15T08:05:15Z")
They’ve currently managed to eradicate the New World screwworm fly from pretty much all of North and Central America. And they’re working on doing the same in the Caribbean. After that, the next step is South America, which will be quite a chore, since it’s native to all but the southern parts of that continent. I don’t see anyone objecting to this program. However, even after the eradication program is complete, the insect won’t be extinct as they can keep breeding stock frozen but revivable. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Go\_alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_alien)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/19 "2002-08-15T08:22:28Z")
The Great Auk was deliberately made extinct. There were expeditions sent to “collect” the last survivors, so I guess it counts. [http://personal.southern.edu/~rychurch/website1/chapter2.html](http://personal.southern.edu/~rychurch/website1/chapter2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950/20 "2002-08-15T09:22:12Z")
IIRC, the Bisons were systematically hunted down so the Native Americans couldn’t expand out from their preserves. Wolves were systemetically hunted by ranchers in the US Midwest to stop them eating the livestocks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-animal-ever-been-intentionally-made-extinct/123950.md?page=2)