{"id":6863,"date":"2026-02-07T10:29:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=6863"},"modified":"2026-02-07T10:29:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:29:37","slug":"the-animals-we-lost-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/scitech\/2026\/02\/07\/the-animals-we-lost-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The Animals We Lost in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we continue to transform our blue and green planet into a dreary collection of grey cities, biodiversity loss is occurring at record rates, up to 100 times higher than the natural baseline. Worldwide, thousands of species are suffering; this year, it was announced that half of all global bird species are in decline. Human activities, habitat degradation, the spread of diseases, and the invasion of non-native species are the primary causes of the rapid extinction rates currently being observed. As the IUCN endangered lists continue to grow instead of shrink, it\u2019s become more important than ever that humans take action to prevent the sixth mass extinction event. But what species is it already too late for, and what animals are teetering on the edge of disappearing for good?<\/span><\/p>\n

Newly Extinct Species<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Species<\/b><\/td>\nReason for Extinction<\/b><\/td>\nTrivia<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christmas Island Shrew<\/b><\/td>\nIntroduction of black rats led to the spread of a blood-borne parasite<\/span><\/td>\nIt is at least the fourth small mammal species to have gone extinct from Christmas Island since the rats were introduced<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Slender Billed Curlew<\/b><\/td>\nHabitat destruction<\/span><\/td>\nRelatives, such as the Eurasian curlew, are also of particular conservation concern<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Southeastern Striped Bandicoot<\/b><\/td>\nHabitat loss and invasion of feral cats<\/span><\/td>\nUsed to be commonly seen on the Murray River in Victoria and New South Wales<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nullarbor Barred Bandicoot<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\nHabitat loss and invasion of feral cats<\/span><\/td>\nNative to the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. One of three species of bandicoot that was declared extinct this year<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Conus Lugubris<\/b><\/td>\nCoastal development led to habitat degradation<\/span><\/td>\nUsed to be abundant on a small part of the Camp Verde Islands\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Species Moved to Critically Endangered List<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Species<\/b><\/td>\nEstimated Remaining Numbers<\/b><\/td>\nWhere are they Found?<\/b><\/td>\nBiggest Threat<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Giant Bronze Gecko<\/b><\/td>\n3184 – 3594 individuals<\/span><\/td>\nSeychelles<\/span><\/td>\nInternational pet trade<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philippine Eagle<\/b><\/td>\n128 – 924 individuals<\/span><\/td>\nThe Philippines<\/span><\/td>\nHabitat loss and hunting<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Purple-winged Ground Dove<\/b><\/td>\n0-49 individuals<\/span><\/td>\nArgentina, Brazil, Paraguay\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\nExpansion of agriculture and farming<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Schmidly’s Deer Mouse<\/b><\/td>\n~48 individuals<\/span><\/td>\nMexico<\/span><\/td>\nDeforestation of cloud forests<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Overlooked Squeaker Frog<\/b><\/td>\nPossibly extinct, no individuals found in the last survey<\/span><\/td>\nTanzania<\/span><\/td>\nEncroachment of agriculture and spread of chytrid fungus<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Human destruction doesn\u2019t discriminate, and activities from the global illegal pet trade to the development of agriculture are killing off species across the globe, many before they have even been discovered. The year 2025 saw us lose a range of species, from invertebrates to birds, with even more experiencing declines rather than booms. It\u2019s more important than ever that sustainable conservation strategies are established. Our only other option is to sit back and watch as more and more species, and the world we recognise, become lost in the years to come.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we continue to transform our blue and green planet into a dreary collection of grey cities, biodiversity loss is occurring at record rates, up to 100 times higher than the natural baseline. Worldwide, thousands of species are suffering; this year, it was announced that half of all global bird species are in decline. Human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":6864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":21,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[1521,237,236,1170,354,527,225,1675,223],"wf_post_folders":[180],"class_list":{"0":"post-6863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scitech","8":"tag-1521","9":"tag-climate-action","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-ecosystems","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-environmentalism","14":"tag-extinct-species","15":"tag-extinct-species-2025","16":"tag-extinction-rates"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Hannah Cooper","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/hannahcooper1\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/27109924195_7b9a669ed7_o-1-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Science & Environment<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Science & Environment<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["2025<\/a>","Climate Action<\/a>","Climate Change<\/a>","ecosystems<\/a>","Environment<\/a>","Environmentalism<\/a>","Extinct Species<\/a>","extinct species 2025<\/a>","Extinction Rates<\/a>"],"unlinked":["2025<\/span>","Climate Action<\/span>","Climate Change<\/span>","ecosystems<\/span>","Environment<\/span>","Environmentalism<\/span>","Extinct Species<\/span>","extinct species 2025<\/span>","Extinction Rates<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 months ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 7 February 2026","modified":"Updated on 7 February 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 7 February 2026 10:29","modified":"Updated on 7 February 2026 10:29"},"featured_img_caption":"Great Philippine Eagle by Charles Davies\/Flickr","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6865,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions\/6865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6863"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=6863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}