# US says ivory-billed woodpecker, 22 other species extinct



## Ceege (Sep 30, 2021)

Whether it's because of climate change, or Mother Nature, it's always sad to hear about the end of a species. 

"It’s a rare move for wildlife officials to give up hope on a plant or animal, but government scientists say they’ve exhausted to find these 23. And they warn climate change, on top of other pressures, could make such disappearances more common  as a warming planet adds to the dangers facing imperiled plants and wildlife."
https://apnews.com/article/climate-...ildlife-fish-b6e61676548a1d7b2f81a6512cbed7a7


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## Shero (Sep 30, 2021)

That is very sad. The Imperial woodpecker from Mexico is about to go the same way for it is critically endangered.


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## JimBob1952 (Sep 30, 2021)

I don't think it's so much climate change as population growth and encroachment on natural habitats.  The Ivory-billed Woodpecker hasn't been seen since 1937, which is too bad because it's so beautiful.


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## SmoothSeas (Sep 30, 2021)

Only 1% of the species that ever existed on this planet are currently extant. 

So sad that the decimal point is rapidly moving to the left.

Can we do any thing about that...?

I like to hope so.


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## Buckeye (Sep 30, 2021)

As a boy, the mere mention of the word "woodpecker" provoked a snicker that just couldn't be suppressed.


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## RadishRose (Sep 30, 2021)

So sad.


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## Ceege (Sep 30, 2021)

When spending the weekend up north several years ago, I was awakened very early one morning by the sound of something tapping on something metal.  Annoyed, I got up to investigate and saw a woodpecker on our TV antenna poll just pecking away.  Poor thing.  I doubt if he found anything edible there.


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## Alligatorob (Sep 30, 2021)

JimBob1952 said:


> I don't think it's so much climate change as population growth and encroachment on natural habitats.  The Ivory-billed Woodpecker hasn't been seen since 1937, which is too bad because it's so beautiful.


You are probably right.  The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is a good example.  Its habitat was old growth forests in the Southeast, when the last of those were cut so went the Ivory-billed.

We do still periodically get reports of Ivory-billed sightings, but none have been verified, probably wishful thinking for the most part.  I did once see one, or think I did; in Louisiana sitting on the back of a rougarou ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rougarou )


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## squatting dog (Sep 30, 2021)

Since it was supposedly extinct back in 2004 when someone re-discovered it, there is always the hope that they are still out there. 

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/sep/30/ivory-billed-woodpecker-extinct-federal-agency/?news


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## oldpop (Oct 6, 2021)

Something to ponder.


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## Alligatorob (Oct 6, 2021)

oldpop said:


> Something to ponder.


You can never prove a species extinct, but I wouldn't bet on anyone ever seeing another one...  

Wish it wasn't true, I would be delighted to find out they still live.


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## Irwin (Oct 6, 2021)

We get a lot of woodpeckers in our bird feeders. No Ivory Billed, though. Those were cool looking. I'm surprised they haven't been raised for pets or something.


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## oldpop (Oct 6, 2021)

I have a few Pileated Woodpecker pairs in my woods but I have not seen any Ivory Billed. From what I have read they are/were very secretive birds. Sad to see any species go extinct. Very sad.
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## senior chef (Oct 6, 2021)

There is always hope. The black-footed ferret was declared extinct until a colony was located in Montana.
(or was it Wyoming ?) Animal conservation teams capture wild black-footed ferrets, vaccinate them and return them to the wild. 
Their main diet is the prairie dog.  
There are now colonies in 5 states. BUT still endangered.


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## JB in SC (Oct 7, 2021)

The wildlife officials (and botanists) have a habit of declaring something extinct, only because they haven’t 

Like the mountain lion in Georgia that was (unlawfully) killed some years back (GA DNR said it was a captive, it wasn’t). More sightings every year occur in odd locales. 

A stand of American chestnut trees found near Warm Springs Ga that was unaffected by blight was found just a few years ago, after constant insistence that they no longer existed.

I often wonder if disinformation is spread to protect individuals or small numbers of species. Not that the Feds would do such a thing….

A line in Jurassic Park, “nature finds a way”, might be true.


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