Going, Going...Gone

Your Last Viewing

I've never been to Madagascar, and really don't have the desire to go. It's not on my list of things to do and places to go before I die (unlike every American outlet of Krispy Kreme...despite the spelling snafu). I know there was a cute, animated movie from either Disney or Pixar by that name, and I also know that it is something of a last remaining bastion for certain species of wildlife. Well, you can count the Alaotra grebe out of that picture. It has been officially declared extinct by the IUCN Red List which maintains scrupulous records concerning endangered and threatened bird life.
So, what is there to know about a bird we will never, ever see again?
It was medium-sixed but had small wings which made it probably incapable of any kind of long flight as well as undesirable fare at Hooters of Madagascar. It lived almost exclusively on Lake Alaotra where it subsisted on fish. The last confirmed sighting was in 1985, and it is posited that poaching, predatory fish and use of gill nets by fishermen all contributed to the death knell of this bird.
In case you are wondering (and I know you are), there have been approximately 10,000 species of birds identified, and roughly 190 of them have become extinct...while no math genius, I guess this number amounts to about 2% of all the worldwide species. Many would say it's no big deal since a) they'd never seen one anyway and b) they had no plans to visit Madagascar which would be ruined by the loss of this creature.
Still...that moves us humans up one on the list to be eradicated...probably by our own selfish (or stupid) actions.
Requiescat in pace.