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   Sandy Lawrence (swlawrence@aus.social)'s status on Saturday, 23-Nov-2024 01:29:59 JST Sandy Lawrence

   AAAS: "Long-distance traveler deemed extinct." The Western Palaearctic is a vast area spanning from North Africa to polar regions in the Eastern Hemisphere. Since the 1500s only 2 avian species from this region were considered to have been lost. Now a third casualty has been identified: "The last slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris, pictured) likely died out around 1995, they report this week in Ibis." Intuitively it makes sense that 'most known bird extinctions have happened on islands, where populations are small and ill prepared for new threats, such as hunting, introduced predators, and diseases.' The slender-billed curlew once traveled a vast range, migrating across Central Asia and the northwestern African coast, with the last recorded sighting in western Morocco back in 1994. The research team combined historical sightings, survey efforts, and known threats, including climate change and habitat destruction—informing a statistical model that generated a 96% probability of extinction. "It follows two other extinct Western Palaearctic birds: the great auk (Pinguinus impennis), last found in 1844, and the Canarian oystercatcher (Haematopus meadewaldoi), caught for the final time in 1913." Unless you believe that clapping to keep fairies alive actually works, realize it's time for all hands on deck to halt habitat destruction + climate weirding.