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 Module
5: Rare, threatened and extinctHave you heard the saying “As dead as a Dodo”? The Dodo was a flightless bird about the size of a turkey that lived on the island of Mauritius. Today, not a single Dodo survives anywhere on Earth. Hungry sailors visiting Mauritius killed and ate every last one. The Dodo is indeed very dead … it is extinct! Scientists studying fossils have identified five periods in the history of the Earth when processes and events like climate change, volcanic eruptions or meteorites colliding with the Earth caused large numbers of plant and animal species to become extinct. Some people believe that Earth is now experiencing the “sixth extinction” – and that this time we are responsible for the loss of plants and animals around the world. |
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 One
of the most extreme extinctions took place in North America about 100
years ago. In the 1800s, the passenger pigeon was the most numerous bird
species in the world. Single flocks of up to two billion
birds darkened the skies when they flew and bent trees when they roosted.
People killed them in enormous numbers. In just one year (1879) in the
state of Michigan, people killed a total of one billion birds not just to
eat but to turn into pig food. It seems impossible but, in 1914, the very
last passenger pigeon on Earth died in a zoo in Cincinnati.In South Africa, approximately 2340 plant and animal species are either already extinct or threatened with extinction. In this section, we will learn about some of the rare, threatened and extinct plants and animals from our region. |
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Click the links to find out more about
threatened species
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