Many species of animals have become extinct over the years, but it’s pretty hard to
confirm that an animal no longer exists, just because we can no longer find them.
So join us as we count 10 extinct animals that could still be alive.
Megalodon The Megalodon is widely accepted to be not
only the largest shark to have ever lived on Earth, but also one of the largest vertebrate
predators in history.
They roamed and ruled the seas for millions of years, until around 1.6 million years ago
when they were supposedly wiped out during the Pleistocene extinction.
However, some people are not satisfied with this answer and insist that they may very
well still exist today.
Now let me make it clear that there is no direct evidence to suggest that this is the
case, apart from documentaries that used fake footage to convince loads of people that they
are definitely still lurking in the waters.
However, there have been a few things that suggest that this might be the case.
Firstly, there have been numerous eyewitness accounts of enormous sharks throughout history,
and even various illustrations of gigantic washed up sharks, along with a few photographs
that may or may not have been photoshopped.
Another unexpected discovery fuelled the belief that the megalodon still lives.
Coelacanths are an extremely old species that were thought to have been extinct since the
end of the cretaceous period around 65 million years ago.
However, one was caught in 1938 and another in 1952.
Since then, many have been spotted throughout the world.
Does this prove the Megalodon is still out there?
Of course not.
But one can only wonder if there is even a small chance that this is the case.
One thing’s for sure, if you go searching for a Megalodon and actually find one, don’t
expect to return home in one piece.
Passenger Pidgeon Passenger Pidgeons used to number in the billions,
but the issue with there being so many of them is that they were incredibly easy to
hunt.
A number of things contributed to their eventual extinction, including hunting, loss of habitat
and infectious diseases.
While attempts were made to rescue the small captive flocks of the birds, they failed since
the passenger pidgeons were used to living in much larger groups.
The last passenger Pidgeon named Martha died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
Seven years later, a few were reportedly spotted by US President Theodore Roosevelt, who definitely
knew his animal species.
To this date, small flocks of passenger pidgeons are occasionally seen in the wild in their
old nesting areas, mostly around the Ozark Mountains.
Unlike the Megalodon, there’s a much higher chance that this species has survived and
we may yet see them again in the future.
Tasmanian Tiger The Tasmanian Tiger was for a while hunted
for being a threat to Livestock, although this was mainly due to settlers causing the
tigers to lose much of their natural habitats.
The species officially became in extinct in 1936, but reported sightings are pretty common
as far as extinct animals go.
While none of the sightings have been scientifically confirmed, they’ve been spotted in Tasmania
and mainland Australia.
In 1979 there was a much reported sighting of a Tasmanian Tiger by fencing workers at
Lang Lang early one morning – one of the few daytime reports.
Some of the confusion about this is due to many of the sightings being from mainland
Australia, where the Tasmanian Tigers have been extinct since the 1800s.
Another problem is that many of the sightings are made by individuals who are not exactly
sober at the time of the sighting, slightly discrediting their reports.
Regardless, however small it may be, there is a chance this species still lives somewhere
in Tasmania, hiding from the sober civilization.
Baiji The Baiji are a now extinct species of dolphins
that were once found exclusively in the Yangtze River.
These dolphins once lived in large numbers but their numbers decreased drastically due
to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam as well as increased boat traffic.
The Baiji were declared extinct in 2006, but there was a sighting merely a year later which
was confirmed by a team of scholars led by scientist Wang Ding.
Unfortunately, that’s been the only sighting since their extinction.
There’s been a massive expedition of over 3,540 kilometres but this did not yield any
further sightings.
However, the Yangtze river is very long, so there’s always a small chance the a few
of the species have survived.
Japanese Wolf The Japanese Wolf is not actually one wolf,
there are two types; the Hokkaido wolf and the Honshu wolf.
These creatures met their ends due to the usual suspects, only this time they were targeted
with chemical extermination, as they were deemed a threat to ranching.
The Hokkaido wolf became officially extinct in 1889, while the Honshu wolf died out in
1905 due to rabies, deforestation of its habitat and conflict with humans.
Despite being extinct, a Japanese wolf appeared in 1910, in the 1930s, 1950s and again in
the 1990s.
One possibly theory suggests that rather than a Japanese Wolf, the animals seen and heard
howling are actually a wolf-dog hybrid.
With so many sightings over the years, it’s existence is certainly plausible.
Eastern Cougar The Eastern cougar was declared extinct in
2011, which is rather odd, considering the enormous amount of sightings.
There are sightings in practically every East Coast state, and—of course—sightings after
the 2011 declaration.
There are entire websites dedicated to state-specific sightings.People of New Hampshire saw and
photographed a cougar that officially wasn’t there.
There are also footprints, scat, fur—all the things you’d expect from a non-extinct
animal.
The Eastern cougar doesn’t seem to be too extinct at all.
Japanese River Otter In the past, there were thousands of river
otters in Japan, but eventually they became hunted for their valuable pelts that could
be exported for money.
Eventually, hunting regulations were introduced that helped the species a bit, but pollution
and human development did more harm which eventually led to their demise.
The pollution terminated their food sources in the water, forcing them to hunt in more
dangerous settings.
They were officially declared extinct in 2012.
Only one year later, a Japanese River Otter was sighted.
Since then there have been over 15 sightings but none of them have been official sightings.
It’s not very easy to be recognized as an official sighting though, often it’s required
to have the animal captured for proof.
Still, their extinction has been recent enough that a few Japanese river otters could remain
hidden from our eyes.
Mexican Grizzly Bear The Mexican grizzly bear ranged from Mexico
to as far north as Colorado.
However, because the bears hunted the cattle from time to time they were considered to
be a pest by farmers.
The Mexican Grizzly bear was trapped, shot and poisoned.
They were already scarce by the 1930s and by 1960 only 30 of them were left.
They were officially declared extinct in 1964.
Yet Mexican grizzlies continue to be spotted.
The North American grizzly is found much further north, but southern Colorado has a few credible
sightings.
There have been more sightings in the former Mexican Grizzly range, and while there are
definitely grizzlies in those parts, the real question is whether they’re Mexican grizzlies
or not.
Javan Tiger
The Javan tiger was found on the Indonesian island of Java, crazy stuff I know.
In the beginning of the 20th century, the human population of Java was rapidly increasing,
which led to much of the forests being cleared for cultivating rice.
Not only that, but the Rusa Deer, the Javan Tiger’s most important prey species, was
lost to disease in several reserves and forests during the 1960s.
The last official citing of the animal occurred in 1976.
However, they were allegedly captured throughout the 1980s.
An exhaustive search in the mid-1990s lead to a 1994 declaration that the Javan tigers
were extinct.
Until someone saw them….
You guessed it… a year later.
In 1995, a Javan foresters discovered a group of Javan Tigers by accident.
Sightings continued throughout the first decade of the 2000s.
The Meru Betiri National park was the site of the last confirmed Javan Tiger sighting,
and this seems also to be the most likely spot for their survival.
Out of all the animals on our list today, the Javan Tiger is probably the most likely
to still be out there.
Mastodon Admittedly, this one is a long shot.
The Mastodons have been extinct for 11,000 years.
One of the theories surrounding their extinction comes down to tuberculosis.
And yet, according to one report, they have been seen as recently as 500 years ago.
In the 1560s, an Englishman named David Ingram ventured to the Americas.
The travelled across over 3,000 kilometres in what is now the United States.
He told fantastic tales of visiting Native Americans with gold jewellery and hairy elephants,
Mastodons.
It would be easy to just dismiss his account, but it is strange that David Ingram managed
to so accurately describe a mastodon.
He had no reason to think they lived in the Americas, nor did he know exactly what he
was seeing at the time.
Of course there have been other alleged sightings even in our time floating around on the web,
but none of those hold much significance.
So is the Mastodon still around?
Probably not, and being as large as they were, it would be difficult for them to hide.
But still, however small it may be, there could still be a chance.