We all know about the existence of the Red Book.It entered the rare and critically endangered species of flora and fauna.However, few people know that there is a black book of animals and plants.It contains a list of extinct and extinct forever.
Introduction The idea of creating the Red Book of plants and animals appeared in the middle of the last century.And already in 1966 he published the first copy of the publication, include a description of more than one hundred species of mammals, 200 species of birds and more than 25 thousand plants.Thus, scientists have tried to draw public attention to the problem of extinction of some species of flora and fauna of our planet.However, such a move is not particularly help in this matter.So, every year the Red Book steadily replenished with new kinds of names.Few people know that there are black pages of the Red Book.Animals and plants listed on them are irretrievably extinct.Unfortunately, in most cases it was the result of irrational and barbaric attitude to nature of our planet.Red and Black Book of animals are today is not so much signal as a cry for help to all the people of the Earth due to the need to stop using natural resources solely for their own purposes.In addition, they carry information about the importance of a closer relationship to those around us beautiful world inhabited by a huge number of amazing and unique creatures.Black Book of animals today covers the period from 1500 to the present day.Leafing through the pages of this publication, we can discover with horror that during that time became extinct about a thousand species of animals, not to mention the plants.Unfortunately, most of them either directly or indirectly become the victims of human rights.
Black Book of animals: Since the list
cover all completely disappeared from our planet types in one article would be quite difficult, it is necessary to highlight some of them.We suggest to consider the extinct fauna living on the territory of Russia and beyond its borders.
Black Book of Russia
Animals in our country today are more than 1,500 species.However, species diversity, both in Russia and abroad is rapidly declining.This is mainly caused by humans.A particularly large number of species have become extinct over the past two centuries.Therefore, we have a black book of Russia.Animals listed in its pages, irretrievably extinct.Today, many members of the national fauna can be seen except in pictures in the encyclopedia or, at best, in the form of stuffed animals in museums.We offer to meet with some of them.
Spectacled Cormorant
This species was discovered in 1741 during an expedition to Kamchatka by Vitus Bering.His name was in honor of the cormorant naturalist by the name Steller, who first described it.Representatives of this type were quite large and slow.They settled in large colonies, and could hide from danger only on the water.People very quickly appreciated the taste qualities of meat Steller's cormorant.And thanks to the ease of hunting birds began its uncontrolled destruction.As a result, the last Steller's cormorants killed in 1852.It's only been a hundred years since the discovery of the type ...
Steller's sea cow
Black Book of extinct animals and describes another kind, open during the expedition of Vitus Bering in 1741.His ship was called "Saint Peter" crashed near the coast of the island, later named in honor of the discoverer.The team was forced to stay here for the winter and eat meat unusual animals called cows due to the fact that they only ate seaweed.These creatures were huge and slow.Their weight is often up to ten tons.Meat of manatees was very tasty and healthy.Hunting is these harmless giants is not difficult, since the animals calmly ate seaweed near the shore, were not able to escape from danger in the back and did not fear humans.As a result, after the completion of the Bering expedition to the islands of profit cruel hunters to exterminate the entire population of sea cows for some three decades.
Caucasian bison
Black Book of animals includes such magnificent creatures as the Caucasian bison.These mammals once inhabited a vast territory from the Caucasus Mountains to the North of Iran.The first mention of this kind date back to XVII century.However, the number of the Caucasian bison began to fall very rapidly due to the uncontrolled destruction of his person, as well as reducing grazing areas.So, if in the middle of the XIX century on the territory of Russia lived about two thousand representatives of this kind, after the First World War, they were no more than five hundred.During the Civil War, the population of the Caucasian bison uncontrollably destroyed because of their meat and skins.As a result, in 1920 the population of these animals goes back more than a hundred individuals.Government urgently Reserve was established, designed to protect against this type of disappearance.But until the moment of its creation in 1924, lived only 15 Caucasian bison.However, the protection of the state was unable to protect them from the guns of poachers.As a result, the last three representative of the type shepherds were killed in 1926 on Mount Alous.
Caspian Tiger
extermination by man suffered not only harmless and vulnerable animals.The black book, and there are a number of quite dangerous predators, which include the Transcaucasian (or Turan) tiger.The population of this species of mammals was completely destroyed in 1957.Caspian Tiger was a fairly large (up to 240 kilograms) and is very beautiful predator with long fur bright red color.The representatives of this species lived on the territory of modern states such as Iran, Pakistan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan (southern part), and Turkey.According to scientists, the Caspian Tiger is the closest relative of the Amur.The disappearance of these wonderful animals in Central Asia is associated primarily with the arrival on the territory of Russian immigrants.They are considered too dangerous predator, and a hunt for him.Thus, to destroy the Tigers used even regular army troops.It is also an important role in the process of extinction of this species has played the expansion of human activities in the habitat of these animals.Last zavkazskogo tiger seen in 1957 in the Soviet Union in Turkmenistan near the border with Iran.
extinct fauna that lived outside the territory of Russia and the USSR
now offer to see what information the book contains black world.Animals that are listed on its pages have disappeared from the surface also largely due to human activities.
Rodriguez parrot
first description of this species date back to 1708 year.Inhabited Rodriguez parrot on the Mascarene Islands, located 650 kilometers east of Madagascar.The length of the body of the bird was about half a meter.This parrot has bright green and orange feathers, and his ruined.To get beautiful feathers, people have become uncontrolled hunting of birds of this species.As a result, by the end of the XVIII century Rodriguez parrot was completely destroyed.
Falkland Islands Wolf
populations of some fauna declined gradually over tens or even hundreds of years.But some animals are listed in the Black Book, undergone a truly fast and brutal violence.Representatives of these types of accidents can be attributed Falkland Islands Wolf (or Falklands wolf).All information on this form is based on only a small museum exhibits and Traveler.These animals lived in the territory of the Falkland Islands.Height of these animals was sixty centimeters, they had a very beautiful reddish-brown fur.Falkland Islands Wolf was able to bark like a dog and feed mainly birds, grubs and carrion thrown to the island by sea.In 1860, the Falkland Islands were seized by the Scots, who are very attracted fur local chanterelles.They quickly began to brutally destroy: to shoot, poison with poison, strangle gas in burrows.With all that Falkland Islands Wolf was very trusting and friendly, easy to go on contact with a person and it could be excellent pets.But the last Falklands wolf killed in 1876.Thus, a total of 16 people completely destroyed a kind of unique mammals.All that remains of the once large population of the Falkland foxes - is eleven museum exhibits in London, Stockholm, Brussels and Leiden.
Dodo
Animals of the Black Book has in its ranks and the legendary bird the dodo with a fancy name.Many familiar with the description on the book by Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", where it was mentioned under the name Dodo.Dodo were quite large creatures.As they reached the height of one meter, and their weight ranged from 10 to 15 kilograms.These birds could not fly and only moved on the ground, as, for example, ostriches.Dodo had a long strong and powerful sharp beak, the length of which can reach 23 centimeters.Due to the need to move only along the ground paws of these birds were long and strong, whereas the wings - very small.Inhabited by these amazing animals on the island of Mauritius.For the first time the dodo was described in 1598 arrived on the island by the Dutch navigators.Since the advent of man in their habitats these birds have become frequent victims, both men rated the taste of their meat and their pets.As a result of this attitude dodo were completely destroyed.The last representative of this species was observed in Mauritius in 1662.Thus, in less than a century after the discovery by Europeans of the dodo.Interestingly, the people realized that this type no longer exists, only half a century after his disappearance from the face of the earth.Destruction of the dodo became perhaps the first precedent in the history when humanity to reflect on the fact that people may be the cause of the extinction of entire species.
Thylacine tilatsin
Black Book of animals includes such a unique creation, as the Tasmanian wolf.He lived in New Zealand and Tasmania.This type was the only member of the family.Thus, with his disappearance, we will never be able to personally take a look at the marsupial wolf.For the first time this species was described by British researchers in 1808.In ancient times, these animals live in vast areas of Australia.Subsequently, however, they were driven out of their natural habitat dingo.Their population is preserved only in places where dingoes were not found.At the beginning of the XIX century marsupial wolf it expects another matter.Representatives of this type have become massively destroyed, because it was believed that they were harmed farmers who breed sheep and chickens.Due to the uncontrolled destruction of marsupial wolves by 1863 their population has decreased significantly.
There were these animals from the Black Book only in remote mountain areas.Perhaps this type and have been able to survive if it had not happened in the beginning of XX century, an epidemic of any disease, it is likely, canine distemper, brought here with pets displaced.Unfortunately, the Tasmanian wolf proved susceptible to this disease, resulting in live there was only a tiny part of the former vast population.In 1928, the representatives of this kind once again no luck.Despite the fact that a law was adopted on the protection of the Tasmanian fauna marsupial wolf in the list of cherished types of government not included.The last representative of the wild species, was killed in 1936.And six years later, and he died of old age last Thylacine, contained in a private zoo.However, despite the fact that this type includes a black book of animals, there is illusory hope that somewhere high in the mountains in the impenetrable jungle of several marsupial wolves still managed to survive, and sooner or later they could find to try to restore the population ofunique mammals.
Quagga
these animals are a subspecies of zebra, but markedly different from their counterparts due to the unique color.Thus, the front part of the animal was striped like zebras, and back - monochromatic.In nature, they met in South Africa.Interestingly, the quagga is the only species of extinct species to date that has been tamed by man.Farmers quite quickly assessed the rate of reaction of the zebras.For grazing next to a herd of goats or sheep, they are the first to notice any danger, and warned the rest of his hoofed brothers.
Consequently they sometimes valued more than the shepherd or guard dogs.Why do people destroyed such valuable animals, it is still not completely understood by scientists.Whatever it was, the last quagga was killed in 1878.
passenger pigeon
until the XIX century, the representatives of this type are among the most common birds on the ground.The size of their population estimated at 3-5 billion individuals.They were small and very cute birds with brownish-reddish plumage.Inhabited passenger pigeon in North America and Canada.The number of these birds has been declining in the period from 1800 to 1870.And then began to destroy this type of catastrophic proportions.Some people believe that these birds are detrimental to farmers.Others killed wandering pigeons purely for fun.Some of the "hunters" were carried out, even the competition, during which it was necessary as soon as possible to kill the maximum number of beautiful birds.As a result, the last passenger pigeon was spotted in the wild in 1900.The only surviving representative of the type named Martha died of old age in September 1914 in the American city of Cincinnati Zoo.
So, today we learned that a black book.About animals listed on its pages, we can only regret.However, we can do everything possible to stop the destruction of the now existing species.After all, people like the king of nature, responsible for our smaller brethren.
