Endling

Hello, everyone, and thank you for your patience while I moved back to the US! In this episode I cover the extinction of the moa. While we think of the moa as a giant bird-and rightly so- it is imperative to realize that there were actually 9 species of moa living on New Zealand when humans first arrived to the islands. What happened that could have brought an entire family down? Find out in this episode! Editing for this episode was provided by Kalie Shaw. For more information about editing, you can contact her at kalieshaw99@gmail.com. Kalie's Demo Reel and Credited Editor RolesSources: Books: Quest Aotearoa by John Taskerhttp://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TreRace.htmlMoa Browsing Evidence:https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/1861.pdfBaby Moa Growth Rates:https://theplosblog.plos.org/2014/06/baby-moa-bones/Wood et al 2008:https://tinyurl.com/y522kwl6Allentoft et al 2014:https://www.pnas.org/content/111/13/4922Huynen et al 2014:https://tinyurl.com/y536dkdsOther sources:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118092633.htmhttps://www.nzbirds.com/birds/moagiant.htmlhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-color-was-that-moa-13810770/ The cover art for the episode is a recreation of Megalapteryx (Upland Moa) by George Edward Lodge in 1907. Photo via Wikimedia.  

This month, I cover the removal of an invasive species from Hawaii, the destruction of nearly the entire population of Tiehm's Buckwheat in Nevada, and the hard work done to remove invasive predators from a massive area in Australia's Mallee Cliffs National Park in order to restore native species, and an update on the California Condor populations after the wildfires across the western US. I was also fortunate enough to speak with Dr. Stephen Ngulu, Head Veterinarian at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya who was kind enough to provide me an update on Najin and Fatu. Eggs were collected from both females last month. The plight of the Northern White Rhino is covered in Episode 5 of the podcast. Donate to help restore Big Sur Condor Sanctuary: https://www.ventanaws.org/Donate to help save the Northern White Rhino: https://donate.olpejetaconservancy.org/ Sources:  Pampas Grass: https://bigislandnow.com/2020/09/23/pampas-grass-eradicated-from-hawaii-island-biisc-reports/Tiehm's Buckwheat: https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/more-17000-rare-nevada-wildflowers-destroyed-2020-09-16/?fbclid=IwAR0UEAWUbMIwofwbKAOTjIUDishFOGmPb3oq8IWrN-34zkwWMcNPRNmd60kMallee Cliffs National Park (AUS): https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/mallee-cliffs-park-is-now-feral-predator-free-with-zero-feral-cats-and-foxes/California Condors: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article245810215.html Cover photo of Tiehm's Buckwheat via Wikimedia Commons

This insect caused millions of dollars in damage right around when the passenger pigeon was at its peak, but then suddenly disappeared never to plague the western US again. The plague in 1874 holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the greatest concentration of animals ever speculatively guessed- nearly 12.5 trillion grasshoppers! But in only 28 years they would go from blacking out the sun to completely extinct.  Sources:Books: Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier by Jeffery A. LockwoodPodcasts:Episode 431 of The Dollop: Year of the Locusthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_locusthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locusthttps://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/looking-back-at-the-days-of-the-locust.htmlhttps://www.hcn.org/issues/243/13695https://timeline.com/in-the-1870s-12-trillion-locusts-devastated-the-great-plains-and-then-they-went-extinct-6f7c51a15d90https://www.historynet.com/1874-the-year-of-the-locust.htmhttps://bugguide.net/node/view/98442http://traditionalanimalfoods.org/insects/http://www.native-languages.org/legends-grasshopper.htmhttps://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/1/80/248302https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Melanoplus_spretus/https://fcmdsc.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/the-rocky-mountain-locust/https://legendsofkansas.com/grasshopper-plague/https://history.nebraska.gov/sites/history.nebraska.gov/files/doc/publications/NH2008Grasshoppered.pdfhttps://sci-hub.tw/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3625918https://sci-hub.tw/https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-6359-6_2289 

This month, I wanted to take the time to highlight what is happening at the US/Mexico border. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Laiken Jordhal, a Borderlands Campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity. The environmental, cultural, and humanitarian crisis that is happening at the border is only getting worse while not being thoroughly covered by many major news outlets. The photo I used for the cover art for this episode depicts a dead buck who had struggled to find shelter on a 110+ degree day and collapsed against the border wall. This buck will likely not be the last casualty of this wall, as it is being built along major migratory paths for a myriad of wildlife. Nowall.orgFollow Laiken on Twitter for updatesFollow Endling on TwitterBuy me a Ko-Fi 

It was such a joy to speak with 'The Women in Archaeology Podcast' about the impacts to native cultures when traditional animal use is displaced. We travel across North America from west to east talking about the salmon, bison, and Passenger Pigeon. Two of these species recovered from near extinction and are still incredibly important to First Nations/Native American tribes in those areas today.Women in Archaeology Podcast EpisodesFollow WiA on TwitterFollow Endling on TwitterBuy me a Ko-Fi and Support the Podcast 

Hello, everyone! Thanks so much for taking the time to listen to the end of the month episode. This one is a bit longer than my usual updates, but with the new IUCN Red List coming out, there was a lot to cover. Stay tuned for the next full length episode which will be a crossover with the Women in Archaeology Podcast!  As I state in the episode, if you're interested in using this podcast as a teaching resource, please reach out to me at endlingpodcast@gmail.com Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/endlingpodcast Sources: Smooth Handfish (RIP): https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/the-first-modern-day-marine-fish-has-officially-gone-extinct-more-may-follow/ School Shark: https://www.miragenews.com/commercially-fished-shark-species-declared-critically-endangered/ Little Penguin: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/27/two-men-charged-with-trying-to-steal-penguin-and-eggs-from-tasmanian-breeding-ground Bison (Alberta): https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5601311 Bison (UK): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/10/wild-bison-to-return-to-uk-kent Rewildling Britain: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/ Suffolk Punch Horse: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-53446927 Illegal Wildlife Poisoning:https://www.4vultures.org/illegal-wildlife-poisoning-case-reaches-court-trial-in-croatia-for-the-first-time/ Norway (Palm Oil and Deforestation): https://vocal.media/theSwamp/norway-becomes-world-s-first-country-to-ban-the-use-of-palm-oil-in-biofuels-to-stop-deforestation IUCN Red List: https://www.iucnredlist.org/https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/world/iucn-red-list-july-2020-spc-int/index.html Smooth Handfish Cover Art via: https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4324

The Japanese sea lion, locally known as the Nihon ashika, disappeared sometime around 1974 at the latest. It was thought to simply be a subspecies of the California sea lion, but genetic mapping in 2003 led scientists to realize that we had lost another species completely. Just like the passenger pigeon, the ashika wasn't studied while it was alive. Find out what we do know about it in this episode.If there are any papers that you would like to read but do not have access to, I highly recommend using sci-hub.tw as a way to view them. Science should be accessible, and the woman who runs that site is doing great work.Books:The Early History of the Fur Seals: The Beasts of the Sea by George William Steller in 1899Sources:Itoo 1985: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmammsocjapan1952/10/3/10_3_135/_pdfNakamura 1991: http://nh.kanagawa-museum.jp/files/data/pdf/bulletin/20/bull20_59-66_nakamura.pdfYamamura 1998: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316472?seq=1Gerber and Hilbourn 2001: http://live-conservation-innovation-lab.ws.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2001_Catastrophic_events_and_recovery.pdfHeath and Perrin 2009: https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/B978-0-12-373553-9.00046-8Blaricom et al 2013: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384719-5.00187-8Shoda et al 2017: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/118721/1/Shoda_et_al_2017_PURE.pdfTakase 2020: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00438243.2019.1699854https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Zalophus/The Sannai Maruyama Site:https://web.archive.org/web/20060928074431/http://sannaimaruyama.pref.aomori.jp/english/image/english-pamph.pdfAlaskan use of sea lions: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=325Rewilding talks: https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012502/http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/113_9626.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sea_lionCover photo via Wikimedia Commons/Naturalis Biodiversity Center

A very quick update with only a few good news stories for the end of the month. If you are interested in purchasing a sticker to support the podcast, please reach out. Thanks for listening and please rate, review, and subscribe!Sources:Smoky Mouse: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/21/endangered-smoky-mouse-feared-wiped-out-during-bushfires-found-alive-in-kosciuszko-national-parkBison: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/bison-back-home-on-the-range/Asiatic Black Bear: https://grapee.jp/en/143329Giant Pacific Garbage Patch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=51&v=U7Ka0stsTO0&feature=emb_logoThe cover photo is of an Asiatic black bear via Wikimedia Commons. The photo was originally taken by Shiv's fotografia in March 2018.

The loss of the passenger pigeon is one of the most well documented and well known modern extinctions. Their population went from billions to none in a little over 40 years. How did they go from blotting out the sun with their huge numbers to a single bird sitting in a cage in the Cincinnati Zoo? Find out in this episode.Listen through to the end for an interview with the author of 'A Feathered River Across the Sky', Joel Greenberg. He talks about the book, how every day people can help with modern conservation, and what it was like to see an extinct species in person about 15 years before it was lost forever.If you are interested in seeing a Passenger Pigeon in person, a list of museums where they are currently housed can be found on the Project Passenger Pigeon website: http://passengerpigeon.org/Sources: Books:A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg The Passenger Pigeon by Errol FullerJohnson et al 2010: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790310002290?via%3Dihubhttps://medium.com/wild-without-end/the-second-great-american-extinction-event-1600s-to-1900s-d6e07985116ehttps://reviverestore.org/about-the-passenger-pigeon/The cover photo for this episode is of Martha, and the photo is from Wikimedia Commons

Here's some more good news for the month of May. I feel like we all need it.Sources: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/dogs-trained-protect-wildlife-saved-22019204https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/19/watch-algeria-reports-sighting-of-ultra-rare-saharan-cheetahhttps://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/from-a-sri-lankan-rainforest-a-new-species-of-orchid-blooms/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/white-tailed-eagles-extinct-england-isle-of-wight-a9497476.html?fbclid=IwAR05I09NciSrh8ZqUGYXo_S2c-psGUd-3p2TuGkTdE1WOqxQx2_GXq86fhghttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/29/large-heath-butterflies-return-to-manchester-after-150-yearshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52530878?fbclid=IwAR2LxFRifRrwBEBDqiukUUiMoVqlOb9cVIDsS7Swj65jtNbF3C_t2ZIiemISaharan Cheetah Photo via: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NorthWest_African_Cheetah_(14846381095).jpg

Humans and rhinoceros have coexisted in Africa for thousands of years, but have only recently begun a massive decline. How did the Northern White Rhino go from a population that was steady enough to be hunted by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 to only 2 110 years later? Find out in this episode. Donate to Ol Pejeta Conservancy: https://donate.olpejetaconservancy.org/Books: Dodging Extinction: Power, Food, Money, and the Future of Life on Earth by Anthony D. Barnoskyhttps://books.google.ca/books?id=SlXOAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=falseThe Fateful Journey: The Expedition of Alexine Tinne and Theodor von Hueglin in Sudan (1863-1864: https://southsudanmuseumnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/willink.pdfSources: Ami Vitale's article about Sudan: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/09/life-changing-lessons-of-the-last-male-northern-white-rhino/#closeBoyle's article for Discover Magazine 2019: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-quixotic-quest-to-birth-a-baby-northern-white-rhinoBurchell's Original Specimens of White Rhinos: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/130/1300833513.pdfMoodley et al 2018: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235034/Rookmaaker and Antoine 2013: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pierre-Olivier_Antoine/publication/260366379_New_maps_representing_the_historical_and_recent_distribution_of_the_African_species_of_rhinoceros_Diceros_bicornis_Ceratotherium_simum_and_Ceratotherium_cottoni/links/5bd142a045851537f598fd6c/New-maps-representing-the-historical-and-recent-distribution-of-the-African-species-of-rhinoceros-Diceros-bicornis-Ceratotherium-simum-and-Ceratotherium-cottoni.pdfLang 1923: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1373564.pdfLang 1924: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1373284.pdfLast Chance to Survive Project: https://web.archive.org/web/20141024083005/http://www.zoodvurkralove.cz/content/image.php?uid=528e2c5e8e7fdHillman-Smith et al 2009: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/124/1245681966.pdfSydney 1965: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/137/1378891562.pdf?viewVigne et al 2007:

Hey, everyone! I figured everyone might need some uplifting news this month, so this one is just all good news dealing with wildlife conservation. If you are interested in purchasing a sticker for the podcast, please reach out on Twitter or Instagram (@endlingpodcast) or by email (endlingpodcast@gmail.com). The art was done by my friend Wes, who can be found on Instagram as @artandanimals_wesjames. Please be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. Thanks!Sources: Rigid Cactus Corals: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/us/florida-aquarium-first-reproduce-ridhed-cactus-coral-trnd/index.htmlWolves in France: https://www.newsweek.com/wolf-northern-france-100-years-1498914Trail Cam Photos by Céline David DesjardinsNorfolk Island Owl: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/norfolk-island-morepork-owl-new-generation/12150012Indochinese Tigers: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/photos-of-wild-tiger-cubs-in-thailand-rekindles-hope-for-species/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719313813?via=ihub#!NeMO-Net: https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/nasa-wants-gamers-to-help-it-map-the-oceans-coral-reefs/http://nemonet.info/Wildverse: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/05/internet-of-elephants-launches-wildeverse-an-ar-game-about-endangered-animals-and-conservation/https://www.wildeversegame.com/

St. Helena is a tiny volcanic island off of the coast of southwestern Africa. This small island was completely uninhabited when it was discovered in 1502, but was covered in plants whose closest cousins were thousands of miles away. On this episode, I cover the St. Helena Olive, one of what was likely the rarest plants on earth before its disappearance in 2003.Sources:Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism (1600 - 1860) by Richard GroveIcones Plantarum, Or Figures, With Brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks, Of New and Rare Plants Selected from the Kew Herbarium by Joseph Dalton Hooker (finished by his son, William Jackson Hooker)https://sthelena.se/index/olive/http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:717646-1#image-galleryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_HelenaThe radio announcement of the death of the St. Helena Olive: https://sainthelenaisland.info/endemics.htmInformation about the Millennium Forest Project: https://sainthelenaisland.info/millenniumforest.htmGrove, R. (1993) Conserving Eden: https://sci-hub.tw/10.1017/S0010417500018399Cronk (1989) The past and present vegetation of St Helena More information about George Benjamin: http://sthelenaonline.org/george-benjamin-the-man-who-saved-the-st-helena-ebony/https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/37598/67372241#text-fields 

Just a quick update about some wildlife news this month that you may have missed with all of the news about coronavirus/COVID-19. There's good news about wildlife trafficking and not so good news about your cat. Hear all about it on this episode!Sources: https://www.traffic.org/news/airasia-adds-momentum-to-the-effort-to-combat-wildlife-trafficking/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/world/europe/south-africa-rhino-poaching-leroy-bruwer.htmlhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/billion-dollar-wildlife-industry-in-vietnam-under-assault-as-law-drafted-to-halt-tradinghttps://www.inverse.com/science/should-you-let-your-cat-go-outside-gps-study-reveals-deadly-consequenceshttps://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380https://www.independent.co.uk/news/badger-cull-vaccine-bovine-tuberculosis-btb-cattle-wildlife-dairy-a9378026.htmlhttps://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/aussies-tell-of-frightening-big-cat-sightings-across-the-country/news-story/6f84a564199e5fb85f33cd78900957fcTRAFFIC Online Course: https://www.traffic.org/news/behaviour-change-for-conservation-online-course-launched-on-world-wildlife-day/

In this episode, I cover the Spix's Macaw. This bird is most well known from its portrayal in the movie Rio, but there is much more to it's story than most people know. This little blue macaw is a symbol of perseverance in a quiet corner of Brazil. Will these blue macaws ever fly in the caatinga again? What happened to the last birds? Find out in this episode!Sources:Spix's Macaw the Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Tony Juniper: https://www.tonyjuniper.com/content/spix%E2%80%99s-macawhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/12/25/a-rare-bird-flies-home-for-good/c7c523eb-1809-42b3-a9dd-0b028c59c3e3/http://blog.funtimebirdy.com/2014/07/23/presley-the-spix-macaw-passes-away-he-inspired-the-rio-movies/https://www.icmbio.gov.br/portal/ultimas-noticias/20-geral/10944-enfim-a-joia-da-caatinga-retorna-ao-lar

In this episode, I cover a few pieces of conservation news that came out over the past month. I also talk about what one of the best band names ever might be. Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Thanks!Sources: China's Wildlife Trading Ban: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00499-2https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-wildlife/china-bans-trade-consumption-of-wild-animals-due-to-coronavirus-idUSKCN20J069Antarctic Penguin Colonies:https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/10/world/chinstrap-penguin-decline-scli-intl-scn/index.htmlAbstract: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-019-02613-146k Year Old Siberian Bird:https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/europe/frozen-bird-ice-age-scli-intl-scn/index.htmlArticle: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-0806-7Mountain Gorillas: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51425617?fbclid=IwAR31EPYCanQnuGPZjK3HfEii-pjeRD6qim4PV6lGS-WJACHmn222osnqosMAlbatross: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410160/international-agreement-to-protect-albatross-from-extinctionBighorn Sheep Release in Nevada: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410160/international-agreement-to-protect-albatross-from-extinctionCocaine Hippos: https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-02-09/uc-san-diego-biologist-colombia-cocaine-hippos-pablo-escobarAbstract: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecy.2991

In this episode, I cover the great auk- the penguin of the north. But was it a penguin as its coloration would suggest or something totally different? What happened to this giant bird? Were these animals killed off completely by humans, or were their populations already on the way out? The range of the great auk stretched from Europe to the shores of eastern Canada, so where did they go? Find out in this episode! Sources:Razorbill Vocalizations by Stanislas Wroza: https://www.xeno-canto.org/contributor/SDPCHKOHRHLive Cam on Eldey Island: http://www.gannetlive.com/Funk Island Videos: http://www.funkisland.ca/videos/Bengston 1984: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v101n01/p0001-p0012.pdfGroot 2004: https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/2073867/fulltextgreatauk.pdfThomas et al 2017: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5485528/Moum et al 2002: https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/19/9/1434/996658Greive 1885: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/great-auk-or-garefowl/3CC16685E4263C92292EC8055C9453E1Newton, A. 1861: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1861.tb08857.xMontevecchi and Kirk 1996: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240792777_Great_Auk_Pinguinus_impennisMorris, Reverend Francis O. (1864). A History of British Birds. 6. Groombridge and Sons, Paternoster Way, London. pp. 56–58.Harris & J. R. G. Hislop. 1978. The food of young Puffins Fratercula arctica. J. Zool. 185: 213-236.OLSON, S. L., C. C. SWIFT, & C. MOKHIBER. 1979. An attempt to determine the prey of the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis). Auk 96: 790-792.Serjeantson D. 2001. The great auk and the gannet: a prehistoric perspective on the extinction of the great auk. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11: 43–55Books: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth KolbertThe Great Auk by Errol FullerThe Great Auk (Gone Forever) by Emily CrawfordAncient People of Port Au Choix: the Excavation of an Archaic Indian Cemetary in Newfoundland by James A. TuckExtinct and Vanishing Birds of the World by James GreenwayHope is the Thing With Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds by Christopher CokinosOther Links:https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-great-auks-went-extinct-penguinhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/with-crush-fisherman-boot-the-last-great-auks-died-180951982/ 

Surprise! A month end round up of some of the good and not so good news coming out of wildlife conservation and extinction. This is a much more informal episode, where you can listen to me cheer on a tortoise that saved his whole species (Go Diego!), nerd out about how cool pine trees are, and get really excited about some brand new bird species. If you are an environmental scientist and are publishing some work in February that you would like people to hear about, please reach out to me at endlingpodcast@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you! Additionally, if you'd like to be interviewed for this podcast about your work, please reach out!Sources: Dungesness Crabs: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/27/us/pacific-ocean-acidification-crabs-dissolving-shells-scn-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1RHJmZec97NtPx7VgZHhPcyppdpkuQzjd1PMzB2f6JXoJ1U9stqTfpCnQBednaršek et al 2020: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720301200#!Wollemi Pines: https://www.gazettenet.com/Australia-firefighters-save-world-s-only-rare-dinosaur-trees-32055091Australian Bushfires: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/20/more-than-100-threatened-species-australian-bushfires-towards-extinctionEspañola Tortoise: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/tortoise-saves-species-sex-drive-galapagos-Galapagos Conservancy Donations: https://galapagos.bsd.net/page/contribute/supportGiant Sequoias: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/18/beetles-and-fire-kill-dozens-of-california-indestructible-giant-sequoia-trees-aoeNew Songbirds: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/09/flycatchers-and-fantails-new-songbird-species-discovered-on-tiny-islands-indonesia-aoeRheindt et al 2020: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6474/167Albatrosses as Secret Spies: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/albatrosses-outfitted-with-gps-detect-illegal-fishing-vessels-180974054/Weimerskirch et al: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/21/1915499117.short Wollemi Pine cover art provided by: David Stang Location taken: United States Botanic Garden. Names: Wollemia nobilis W.G. Jones, et al., Australianwollemia, Australski stribor, Cây thông Wollemi, Dižā volēmija, Pin de Wollemi, Pino Wollemi, Sárkán.

In this episode, I cover the thylacine- Tasmania's most famous extinct animal. Were these animals killed off completely by humans, or were there other factors at play? Thylacines were the dominant carnivore within Tasmania until European settlers arrived and began to kill them to protect their sheep. But, were these animals killed off completely by humans, or were there other factors at play? Sources: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2656.12029https://web.archive.org/web/20090205080536/http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/staff/swroe/Lost.pdfhttp://rw.thylacine.psu.edu/papers/johnson2003.pdfhttps://parks.tas.gov.au/discovery-and-learning/wildlife/tasmanian-tigerhttps://publications.rzsnsw.org.au/doi/pdf/10.7882/AZ.2012.008http://prism.scholarslab.org/prisms/25099fc8-a7f0-11e3-bbb5-e2ab703590ac/visualize?locale=enhttps://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/return-of-the-living-thylacinehttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0034877Dr. Michael Archer's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_archer_how_we_ll_resurrect_the_gastric_brooding_frog_the_tasmanian_tiger?language=enAllison Reid's Interview from 1996: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAGRCnZ4K10&feature=emb_logo  

In this introductory episode, I cover why I was inspired to start this podcast. This podcast will cover recent extinction events that have happened since humans came onto the scene. Oftentimes, recent extinctions are only covered by people posting about it on social media, but I hope to tell the full life histories of these creatures and talk about the conservation efforts that were in place before they slipped away. Join me on January 25th, 2020 for Episode 1 of Season 1 - The Thylacine