(AbsoluteNews.com) – For decades, US wildlife officials have looked for the ivory-billed woodpecker. They searched in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Florida for the beautiful creature to no avail. Now the officials have made a heartbreaking decision.
On Wednesday, September 29, the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species extinct. Despite officials’ best efforts, they haven’t been able to find the creatures in the wild.
NEW: The “Lord God Bird” is dead. The ivory-billed woodpecker, the ghostly bird whose long-rumored survival in the South's swamps has haunted seekers for generations, will be officially declared extinct today, along with 22 other species. By @dino_grandoni https://t.co/ruckiM0JKt pic.twitter.com/fSLvVCTUBl
— Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) September 29, 2021
In addition to the ivory-billed woodpecker, the species of plants, fish, birds and others added to the list are:
- Bridled white-eye
- Kauai `o`o (honeyeater)
- Kauai akialoa
- little Mariana fruit bat
- Kauai nukupuu
- Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis (a flowering plant with no common name)
- large Kauai thrush (kama)
- Maui akepa
- Molokai creeper (kakawahie)
- Maui nukupuu
- po`ouli (honeycreeper)
- Bachman’s warbler
- Stirrupshell
- Flat pigtoe
- southern acornshell
- San Marcos gambusia
- upland combshell
- tubercled blossom (pearly mussel)
- Green blossom (pearly mussel)
- yellow blossom (pearly mussel)
- turgid blossom (pearly mussel)
- Scioto madtom
According to experts, there are a number of reasons why the species are extinct, including development depleting habitats, climate change, hunting, logging, pollution and other issues. Ultimately, humans are to blame.
Experts have added 902 species to an extinct list since they began keeping track. Scientists have said the world is in a mass extinction cycle but is moving at 1,000 times the historical rate — and that’s bad news for nature lovers.
You Deserve the Absolute Truth!
Copyright 2021, AbsoluteNews.com