May 2010 - The Alaotra Grebe, a small water bird recently native to Madagascar, has been declared extinct by Birdlife Internation. By virtue of not having been seen in 25 years, the Alaotra Grebe has now been listed in the latest ICUN
Red List of Extinct Species and been categorized as a former species by the conservation group Birdlife International.
Several different factors contributed to the extinction of the alotra grebe, including climate and enviromental changes and humans’ need to suck up all resources. Specifically, this little guy disapeared because of human introduction of a carniverous bass, which ate the checks of the flightless birds. The fishermens’ nets intended to catch the newly imported fish also ensnared the birds.
This all seems very mundane and decidedly un-catastrophic, unless you consider it in the context of the current rate of species extinction. According to the IUCN, the rate at which we are wiping out species is 100 to 1,000 times than that indicated in the fossil records - before humans had a chance to build condos on the beach. Thus, the argument that new species have always evolved to take the place of those that disappear becomes inoperative in the face of mankind's new paradigm of destruction.
The alotra grebe joins a list of 132 totally extinct birds on the
Red List.
