They did have the last one but the body is in the Smithsonian. They also had the last Carolina parakeet.
The last Rabb's Fring Limbed Tree Frog, Toughie, died at Atlanta's Botanical Garden in September 2016
Sorry to bring back an old post, but I wanted to recommend the book Witness to Extinction, by Samuel Turvey. Turvey was heavily involved in the last-ditch efforts to save the species and discusses the few animals that were kept in captivity, going up and down the river looking for animals, etc. It's a difficult but good read.
I second that recommendation. Very poignant read, the kind of book that makes you want to get out there and change things. On the subject of extinct species kept in zoos, Partula turgida is noteworthy, due to it's extinction at London zoo, and being the first case of final extinction confirmed to be caused by a parasite.
Some information about the New York animals : June 14 1909 : 1-1-1 recieved Dec. 27 1910 1 died Jan. 16 1911 1 died Could'nt find when the last one died Also some phots made at New York : ( no copyrights anymore on both photos )
It's interesting that there were two earlier Caribbean monk seals in the New York Aquarium at Battery Park. These arrived in 1897; one lived until 6th January 1903 and holds the captive longevity record for the species
Catarina pupfish were formerly kept in some facilities, but were extinct by 2014, even in captivity. Catarina pupfish - Wikipedia
How did this happen ? I mean the situation / context in which you were allowed to handle these specimens ?
Tbh I cannot remember that well. We were with someone who 'knew someone' at the museum I think, but in general they are probably lot less rigorous and more relaxed about things like that over there- or were in those days anyway. In the UK it would be very dificult even to get a visual inspection- you have to apply in advance to visit offshow collections of the bigger museums..
Sounds like an incredible experience to handle a specimen of an extinct species but yes it just suprised me as these sort of things are very difficult to do nowadays.
Were there any collections that held the Extinct Skink species of the Genus Alinea? Not too many mentions of reptiles here.
While at University we were able to and encouraged to handle skin and particularly skull of Thylacine. The later was frequently a specimen used in Finals where the ability to distinguish it from a Canis skull might be tested (although it wasn’t for my year).
Pink headed ducks were held in a private collection in Britain. That was where they died out. Curious if the Labrador duck, ivory billed woodpecker, or Eskimo curlew were ever in captivity? Have any if you ever seen an endling in a zoo?
The Fort Worth Zoo has Black Bears, and Jaguars in Texas Wild, and those species have been extirpated from Texas, so they are basically extinct locally.
The private collection in Britain that had pink-headed ducks was Foxwarren Park, owned by Alfred Ezra. Jean Delacour also kept pink-headed ducks at Cleres in France. I think that the first pink-headed ducks outside India were a pair acquired by London Zoo on 12th January 1874: London Zoo obtained three more specimens on 17th August 1899. (Berlin Zoo has held pink-headed duck too.)
I don’t think the three birds were ever displayed, although Ivory-billed Woodpecker was briefly held by (I believe) Alexander Wilson, but it escaped by chiselling through the hotel room wall! As for endlings, I did see the Galapagos Lonesome George (although whether he was a true endling is subject to genetic dispute).
Any idea how long they lived? I know the Foxwarren and Cleres ones lived long and did well (although they never bred) but the ZSL birds lasted about eighteen months, so never really got established.
