What life forms on Earth are close to extinction?
The last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity in 1936. Gone, too, are the zebralike quagga, passenger pigeon and golden toad — each of them, like the tiger, photographed before extinction. These lingering images serve as windows into the past, reminders of what our recklessness has subtracted from the Earth. Since the demise of these four species, humans have made an effort to preserve more of the planet’s endangered species through zoos and improved wildlife management. Yet a number of animals currently hang in the balance due to habitat loss, pollution, overhunting, invasive species and environmental change. As of May 2010, the United Nations-recognized International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed 75 species as extinct in the wild. Like a hospital patient on life support, they only live on due to human intervention. They simply don’t exi
