The Largest Eagle To Ever Fall From The Sky

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Bare bones. A pale collection of skeletal matter and a host of aboriginal legends are all that remain of this mighty beast that once fell from the skies of South Island, New Zealand with the striking force of a cinder block falling from an eight story building.

Harpagornis moorei, Haast's eagle, was the largest eagle to ever take flight. Weighing more than thirty pounds, a big female would have a body nearly five feet long and a wingspan close to ten feet. Keep in mind, that's a ten foot wingspan on a bird of prey with rather short wings and a long tail in relation to body size.

wikipedia.org

The reason this beast of a bird was able to survive in it's dense forest home was it's chief prey item.

The moa, a giant flightless bird that had no chance against the tyranny from above that this mighty eagle delivered.

Unfortunately, there is another creature even more terrible and destructive; a creature neither the moa nor the Haast's eagle were prepared for.

Man.

Around 1400 CE, man delivered the killing blows to both of these wonderful creatures.

carnivoraforum.com

First, they mercilessly hunted the moa to extinction. Then they cleared the dense forests that the eagle called home.

With the loss of it's main prey item and the destruction of it's habitat, the majestic Haast's eagle faded into extinction.

Now all that remains are bones. Bare lifeless bones and a few images created by artist's who dream of a time when death fell hard from the heavens.

Farewell, Western Black Rhinoceros

lilomag.com

This is the western black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis longipes), a magnificent creature that once ranged across the savanna of central-west Africa.

They are all gone now.

No matter how much you may want to, you will never see this animal alive in it's natural habitat, either browsing on the low grass or rearing it's young.

The sad thing is, they really had a chance at survival. As long ago as the 1930's, conservation efforts pulled these heavily hunted beasts back from the edge of extinction.

petermaas.nl

As the years passed, however, protection efforts declined as illegal poaching intensified. The courts failed to punish poachers and these magnificent animals slowly disappeared.

By the year 2000, only ten remained in northern Cameroon.

An intensive search in 2006 found none. The IUCN still lists the western black rhino as critically endangered, but they're just being hopeful. They recognize the sad truth that these marvelous creatures are probably all gone.

So let's say farewell to the western black rhino. Wave goodbye as it vanishes into the tall grass of extinction, casting one last sad look over it's shoulder before departing forever.

onlinezoo2323.wordpress.com

The Golden Toad is Forever Gone

en.wikipedia.org

Toads are supposed to be drab. Every toad that had ever been seen since man started cataloging his fellow creatures had been so. Until 1966, when scientists exploring a four square mile preserve in the cloud draped rain forests above Monteverde, Costa Rica discovered Bufo periglenes, the golden toad. Endemic to this one small piece of forest, little is known about the lives of these enigmatic creatures.

We will never have any answers to our questions either, because this species is gone from the face of the earth forever.

esrl.noaa.gov

Staying hidden most of the year, these toads were only seen during a two week window in April. That's when the brightly colored males would gather in huge congregations around pools of rainwater to compete for a very small number of females.

1987 was a very dry year, and all the pools dried up before golden toad tadpoles could mature. Of the more than 44,000 eggs found, only twenty-nine tadpoles survived to maturity.

No golden toads have been seen since 1989.

frog-garden.com

There are many theories circulating as to the cause of the golden toad's demise. Climate change, fungal attacks, pollution, and even excess ultraviolet radiation have been blamed. Maybe it was just a natural occurrence, or maybe it was mankind's doing.

These theories are not my concern. I simply feel the need pause a moment and reflect on the passing of one of our fellow species. Nothing lasts forever, but it is a real sadness to discover such a wonder only to have it vanish such a short time later.

Farewell golden toad. You will be missed.