Species we have lost over the last quarter of a century

As you say, only a matter of time hope I manage to get back to Blackpool before the last individual dies, as it would be nice to get a decent photograph.

 

It died within weeks of Alan posting the above so the species is indeed now lost.

On a brighter note, another gap in the gallery has been filled, as an individual on Facebook has permitted me to share their photograph of Spangled Kookaburra at Birdworld:

 

This one is a shorter list than one would have thought.... although considering the number of taxa once held at Blackbrook Zoo it would have been significantly more time-consuming were it not for the fact I am restricting myself to species-level losses rather than subspecies!

Waterfowl lost in the past 25 years:

Kelp Goose (Chloephaga hybrida) - this taxon was last held in 2012 at Blackbrook Zoo, one of several collections to hold the species within the timespan in question. There are a number of photographs of the taxon within the gallery, including the following image:



Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) - this taxon was last held in 2014 at WWT Arundel, with a handful of other WWT collections displaying the species within the timespan in question. There are several photographs of this taxon within the gallery, including the following image of the last individual at Arundel - and indeed outside New Zealand:



Falkland Steamer Duck (Tachyeres brachypterus) - this taxon was last held in c.2011 at Zurich, with seven other collections displaying the species in the timespan concerned. However, no images of this taxon appear to be present on the Zoochat gallery.

Auckland Teal (Anas aucklandica) - this taxon was last held in the 1990s at Zoo Wuppertal. However, no images of this taxon appear to be present on the Zoochat gallery.

Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula) - this taxon was last held in c.2010 at Blackbrook Zoo. There are a small number of photographs of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery, including this image taken at Blackbrook:



Australian Grey Teal (Anas gracilis) - this taxon was last held in 2009 at Madrid Zoo. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of captive individuals in New Zealand.

Asian Velvet Scoter (Melanitta stejnegeri) - this taxon was last held in the mid-1990s at Walsrode. There are no images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery.

Steller's Eider (Polysticta stelleri) - this taxon was last held in 2001 at Blackbrook Zoo. The only image of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery is of a taxidermy specimen.

Australian Stifftail (Oxyura australis) - this taxon was last held in 2009 at Parco Gallorose. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of wild and captive individuals in Australia.

 

does anyone know the story of this? Zootierliste says the pair were "obtained through confiscation" which seems really strange.

 

As a pure guess, I would assume someone tried to smuggle them into Europe identified as something else.....

On another note, an index to help me keep track of what groups I have covered thus far, and to allow people to check the lists for taxa they could upload images of.....

Mammals

Waterfowl taxa lost since 1990

 

This common name distinguishes it from the Indonesian Grey Teal (Anas gibberifrons) with which it was once deemed conspecific.

 

A bunch of seabirds......

Tubenose taxa lost since 1990

Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) - this taxon was last held in 2001 at Vogelpark Avifauna. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) - this taxon was last hed in 1999 at Tierpark Berlin. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus) - this taxon was last held in 1991 at Zoo Rostock. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Skua taxa lost since 1990

Long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus) -this taxon was last held in 2001 at Tiergarten Hellbrunn. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Lönnberg`s Skua (Stercorarius lonnbergi) - this taxon was last held in 1991 at Zoo Rostock. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Antarctic Skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) - this taxon was last held in approximately 2000 at Birdland. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus) - this taxon was last held in 2012 at Mablethorpe, with a handful of other collections holding the taxon within the timespan in question. There are several images in the Zoochat gallery of this taxon, including the following photograph of the last individual in Europe:



Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus) - this taxon was last held in 2001 at Moscow. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) - this taxon was last held in 2006 at Artis. The only images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery are of a wild individual and a taxidermy specimen.

Gull taxa lost since 1990

Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) - this taxon was last held in 2003 at Loro Parque. The only images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery are of captive individuals in Australia.

Heermann's Gull (Larus heermanni) - this taxon was last held in approximately 2008 at Lisbon Oceanario. There is a single image of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery:



Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus) - this taxon was last held in 2011 at Moscow Zoo. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Tern taxa lost since 1990

White-winged Tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) - this taxon was last held in 2003 at Poznan Nowe. The only images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery are of wild individuals in Ethiopia.

Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) - this taxon was last held in 2012 at Vogelpark Ruinen, one of several collections to hold the species within the timespan in question. However, the only images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery are of wild individuals.

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) - this taxon was last held in 2012 at Living Coasts. There are a handful of photographs of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery, including this image:



Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) - this taxon was last held in 2002 at Dierenpark Emmen. The only images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery are of wild and captive individuals in the USA.

Auk taxa lost since 1990

Little Auk (Alle alle) - this taxon was last held in 2007 at Rotterdam. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba) - this taxon was last held in 2014 at Living Coasts. There are numerous images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery, including the following photograph:

 

mm, it just seems really odd. The captive population in NZ was derived from four pairs captured in 1984 - at the time of the Wuppertal birds there were around a dozen birds total - and there's really no way any of this population or their eggs could have been stolen. So the only other option is a private person obtained birds or eggs directly from the Auckland Islands, which is equally as unlikely.

 

An interesting problem indeed, then.......

 

the obvious answer is that the birds were NZ brown teal which were and are still kept in Europe, and whoever added them to Zootierliste did so on the basis of their scientific name at the time being Anas aucklandica (since split as A. chlorotis).

I'd like to find out what reference was used for the birds' presence.

Side-note, not relevant to the Wuppertal birds' identification, is that the photo used on Zootierliste is actually of Campbell Island teal.

 

Quite possible; that said, the Slimbridge listing for the species notes both a failed import in 1955 as well as, intriguingly, a reference to the species being present at the collection into the 1990's. As Slimbridge held - and still holds - NZ Brown Teal, one would imagine that they would know the difference between the two taxa. This would tend to imply there were some knocking around in Europe at the time.

Wuppertal guidebooks at the time always contained a stocklist - I'll see if I can find any guidebooks in my collection which list the birds in question, to see if they are listed at species level (in which case your theory will likely be correct) or subspecies level (in which case the listing might well be accurate, but we'll be left with even more questions.)

 

And now a bunch of miscellaneous aquatic avifauna......

Penguin taxa lost since 1990

Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) - this taxon was last held in 2012 at Zoo Wuppertal, one of several collections to hold the species within the timespan in question. There are many photographs of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery, including the following image of an individual at Zoo Wuppertal from the ill-fated final import:



Diver taxa lost since 1990

Black-throated Diver (Gavia arctica) - this taxon was last held in 2009 at Ranua Wildlife Park, one of several collections to hold the species within the timespan in question - the vast majority being brief periods of holding rescue individuals. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) - this taxon was last held in 1996 at Magdeburg, the individual in question being a rescue bird held briefly. The only image of this taxon on the Zoochat gallery is of a wild bird in North America.

Red-throated Diver (Gavia stellata) - this taxon was last held in 2009 at Zoo Ohrada, one of several collections to hold the species within the timespan in question - the vast majority being brief periods of holding rescue individuals. There are no images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery.

Grebe taxa lost since 1990

Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) - - this taxon was last held in 1994 at Burgers Zoo, the individual in question being a rescue bird held briefly. The only image of this taxon on the Zoochat gallery is of a wild bird in North America.

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) - this taxon was last held in the early 2000's at Olmen Balen. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of wild birds in North America.

Sulid taxa lost since 1990

Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) - this taxon was last held in 2002 at Vogelpark Walsrode. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of wild birds in North America, and a captive bird in the Philippines.

Cormorant taxa lost since 1990

Reed Cormorant (Phalacrocorax africanus) - this taxon was last held in 2007 at Tierpark de Paay. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of wild birds in Africa.

King Cormorant (Phalacrocorax albiventer) - this taxon was last held in 1997 at Zoo Berlin, the individual in question having lived at the collection for 35 years. There are no images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery.

European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) - this taxon was last held in 2010 at Birdworld, one of several collections to hold the species within the timespan in question. There are a handful of photographs of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery, including the following image taken at Birdworld:



Imperial Shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps) - this taxon was last held in c.2011 at Oceanario Lisbon. The only image of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery is of a captive individual in the USA.

Guanay Cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvilliorum) - this taxon was last held in 2014 at Vogelpark Walsrode. There are several photographs of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery, including this image of the final individual at Walsrode:



Neotropical Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) - this taxon was last held in 1991 at Krefeld Zoo. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of wild individuals in North America, and a captive individual in Bolivia.

Indian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscicollis) - this taxon was last held in c.1997 at Vogelpark Walsrode. The only image of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery is of a captive individual in Vietnam.

Red-legged Cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi) - this taxon was last held in 2005 at Vogelpark Walsrode. There is a single image of this species in the Zoochat gallery, taken at this collection in 2000:



Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) - this taxon was last held in 2004 at Vogelpark Walsrode. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of captive and wild individuals in southeast Asia and Australia.

Darter taxa lost since 1990

American Darter (Anhinga anhinga) - this taxon was last held in 1999 at Dierenpark Emmen. The only images of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery are of wild and captive individuals in North America.

Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) - this taxon was last held in 1992 at Burgers Zoo. The only image of this taxon in the Zoochat gallery is of a captive individual in Vietnam.

Frigatebird taxa lost since 1990

Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) - this taxon was last held in 2005 at Chester Zoo; the individual in question was a rescue bird found in a Shropshire field which survived for less than 24 hours, and as such there are no images within the Zoochat gallery. However, photographs of the bird were taken and published online; as such, considering how unusual this listing is, a link to a journal article about the bird - including photographs - can be found here. The only images of this taxon within the Zoochat gallery are of a wild individual in Mexico.

 

Very interesting I shall edit your post to make it a thumbnail image.