2017-10-01 Sanctuary Asia

Sanctuary | Natural History

Javan rhinoceros

The fi rst mammal to be driven to extinction in modern

times was the Indian subspecies of the Javan

rhino, one of the most endangered animals

in the world with a current estimated world

population of around 60-70 animals, most

of them in the Ujung Kulon National Park

in Java. The Indian subspecies ranged across

Bengal and Assam, and one was even shot at in, what is, present day

Kolkata city, which was then an extension of the Sundarbans mangrove

forest! There are few estimates of how abundant this species was in

recent times, but records suggest that they were uncommon in India by

the 1880s. The Javan rhino was most likely a victim of habitat loss

and trophy hunting.

Scientifi c name: Rhinoceros sondaicus inermis

Range: Bengal, Assam and eastwards

Conservation status: Regionally extinct

Extinction date: Last sight record in the 1880s, scattered reports until the 1940s

Cause of extinction: Habitat degradation and human exploitation

Asiatic cheetah

Rapid agricultural expansion usually signals the doom of

grassland and open country animals. The story is no diff erent

in India, where most endangered or extinct species are ground

dwelling, and inhabitants of grassland ecosystems. With more

and more wilderness coming under the hoe during the early parts

of the 20th century, something had to give – and give it did in the

shape of a charismatic cat.

The Asiatic cheetah is a subspecies, which once roamed

eastwards from south-west and central Asia to India’s border with

Myanmar. Today, only a remnant population of less than 100 animals

survive in Iran.

Despite its wide historic range across much of India, habitat

loss and indiscriminate trapping and hunting of the species

decimated populations of the animal whose English name is derived

from the Hindi word ‘chita’, meaning ‘spotted one’! By the beginning

of the 20th century, the species was already heading for extinction in

many areas, and subsequently in 1951, the cheetah earned the unwelcome tag

of being the fi rst animal in recorded history to be declared extinct from India due

to unnatural causes.

Scientifi c name: Acinonyx jubatus venaticus

Range: Across most of India

Conservation status: Regionally extinct

Extinction date: Last sight record is from Chhattisgarh in 1951

Cause of extinction: Habitat loss, hunting and trapping

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