Animals declared extinct in 2023

In 2023, scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) officially declared 21 species, including ten birds, eight mussels, two fish, and one mammal, to be extinct. Additionally, the international conservation organization IUCN changed the status of the Java stingaree (Urolophus javanicus) on its Red List to “extinct.” This stingray, known only from a single specimen discovered at a fish market on the Indonesian island of Java in 1862, was previously listed as “critically endangered.”

After careful evaluation, the FWS permanently removed 21 animal species from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as they are unequivocally considered extinct. The ESA, a U.S. law enacted in 1973, aims to protect endangered plant and animal species and their habitats. Most of these 21 species, which were originally placed under the ESA’s protection in the 1970s and 1980s, were already in decline or possibly extinct when they received federal protection. This protective measure came too late for these species, but it serves as a wake-up call highlighting the importance of conserving endangered species before it is too late for them as well.

The decision to remove these species from the list follows a 2021 proposal to delist 23 species due to extinction. After numerous public comments, the FWS withdrew the proposal to delist one species, Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis, a Hawaiian plant in the mint family. New research has identified potentially suitable habitats for this species, offering hope that it may still exist. Additionally, the ivory-billed woodpecker, missing since the 1940s and originally included in the delisting proposal, will continue to not be listed as “extinct.”

Final Delisting: 21 Species Removed from the Endangered Species Act

As part of the ESA, the focus is on protecting endangered but still living species. Therefore this is the FWS list of animals declared extinct in 2023:

Mammals

• Guam flying fox (Pteropus tokudae) – last confirmed sighting in 1968

Birds

• Bachman’s warbler (Vermivora bachmanii) – last confirmed sighting in 1988
• bridled white-eye (Zosterops conspicillatus) – last confirmed sighting in 1983
• Kauai ʻakialoa (Akialoa stejnegeri) – last confirmed sighting in 1969
• Kauaʻi nukupuʻu (Hemignathus hanapepe) – last confirmed sighting in 1899
• Kauaʻi ʻōʻō (Moho braccatus) – last confirmed sighting in 1987
• large Kauaʻi thrush (Myadestes myadestinus) – last confirmed sighting in 1989
• Maui ʻakepa (Loxops ochraceus) – last confirmed sighting in 1988
• Maui nukupuʻu (Hemignathus affinis) – last confirmed sighting in 1996
• Molokaʻi creeper (Paroreomyza flammea) – last confirmed sighting in 1963
• Hawaiian black-faced honeycreeper (Melamprosops phaeosoma) – last confirmed sighting in 2004

Fish

• San Marcos gambusia (Gambusia georgei) – last confirmed sighting in 1983
• Scioto madtom (Noturus trautmani) – last confirmed sighting in 1957

Freshwater mussels

• flat pigtoe (Pleurobema marshalli) – last confirmed sighting in 1984
• stirrup shell (Theliderma stapes) – last confirmed sighting in 1986
• southern acornshell (Epioblasma othcaloogensis) – last confirmed sighting in 1973
• upland combshell (Epioblasma metastriata) – last confirmed sighting in the mid-1980s
• green blossom pearlymussel (Epioblasma torulosa gubernaculum) – last confirmed sighting in 1982
• tubercled blossom pearlymussel (Epioblasma torulosa torulosa) – last confirmed sighting in 1969
• turguid blossom pearlymussel (Epioblasma turgidula) – last confirmed sighting in 1972
• yellow blossom pearlymussel (Epioblasma florentina florentina) – last confirmed sighting in 1966