Going, Going, Gone Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aurochs

According to wildcattleconservation.org, there were once 12 species of wild cattle that roamed in various parts of the world. Aurochs were prevalent in Europe, Asia and North Africa in their heyday, but hunting, a narrowing habitat due to farming and diseases transmitted by domestic cattle all contributed to the disappearance of the species by the year 1627.

The kouprey (forest ox) of Indochina has not been seen the 1980s and is also believed to be extinct. The gaur (Indian bison) and anoas (two species of Dwarf buffalo - Mountain and Lowland) are also wild cattle species that are struggling to survive.

Answer: Dodo Bird

Dutch travelers were among the first to record observations of the Dodo, calling it 'walghvogel', which translates as 'wallow bird' or 'loathsome bird'. The origin of the name 'Dodo' is obscure, but three theories are:
1) from the Dutch word 'dodoor' meaning 'sluggard';
2) from the Dutch word 'dodaars' meaning 'knot-arse' (a reference to the tail feathers); and
3) from the Portuguese 'duodo' meaning 'fool' or 'crazy'.

(above info gleaned from the Wikipedia site on the Dodo)

Answer: Steller's Sea Cow

Steller's sea cow was named for Georg Wilhelm Steller, who first described the creature during the Kamchatka expedition led by Vitus Bering. Steller's sea cow was part of the order Sirenia, along with the dugong, and the different manatee species. Due to its large size (eight to nine meters in length), slow pace and apparent inability to submerge, Steller's sea cow was easy prey for hunters.

Answer: Great Auk

A small colony of no more than 50 birds was discovered on the small island of Eldey in 1935. The last pair (described in the question) were incubating an egg when they were killed, and the egg itself was smashed. (SOURCE: "No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species" by Ellis Richard)

According to the Wikipedia article on the great auk, one claim of a visual sighting in 1952 near Newfoundland was accepted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, although no physical evidence was presented.

Answer: Labrador Duck

The disappearance of the Labrador duck is referred to as the Mystery Extinction because not much was learned about the bird and its biology before it disappeared. Even though it carried the name 'Labrador', the breeding range of the species was never positively identified.

Answer: Quagga

The quagga was once found in great numbers in South Africa, primarily in the Cape Province and Orange Free State. The only quagga known to have been photographed while still alive was a mare at London's zoo at Regent's Park in 1870. The belief that the quagga was a subspecies of the plains zebra has led to attempts to rebreed the species from existing zebras.

Answer: Passenger

The vast numbers of the passenger pigeon population may have made it seem like they could never truly be in danger of extinction. Human incursions into North America made such a happening only all too easy, when one considers that the female of the species only laid one egg per year. In addition to that, their vast numbers made them easy to hunt and with their primary food being acorns, chestnuts and beech nuts, their food source began to disappear at a prodigious rate.

(above quotation in the question taken from eco-action.org website on the passenger pigeon)

Answer: Tasmanian Tiger

The Tasmanian tiger was not truly a tiger. Another name that the thylacine was commonly known as was Tasmanian wolf. In reality, the animal was neither. It was a carnivorous marsupial, most closely related to the present-day Tasmanian devil. It had the appearance of being dog- or wolf-like in the face (or kangaroo-like, perhaps) while its back and hindquarters had stripes like that of a tiger.

Answer: True

The Caspian tiger's range was, appropriately, in the region of the Caspian sea, and extending east into central Asia. The decline of the Caspian tiger was noted in different regions, from Iraq's last tiger killed in 1887, to 1922 in the Caucasus region, 1948 in Kazakhstan, and 1958 in Iran.

More remote regions also had their last sightings or killings, but there has been no evidence (photographic or otherwise) of Caspian tiger sightings since the early 1970s.

Answer: Baiji

The rapid decline of the baiji was a result of China's industrialization in the 20th century. While the baiji has not been 'officially' named extinct, the designation of being functionally extinct means that even if there are still baiji in existence, their numbers would not likely be large enough to maintain the species.