Lost Animals of the 20th Century

Lost Animals of the 20th Century is a 16-episode documentary series shown on the Discovery Channel in the 1990s. It features animals that have become extinct throughout the 20th century. Animals are adjudged as such when the last specimen of the species dies sometime from 1901 to 2000. However, since the show was produced in the 1990s (still part of the 20th century), most of the animals covered became extinct in the early part of the century. Greta Scacchi introduces each episode during the title sequence and narrates episodes 1 through 8. Lin Sagovsky narrates the remainder of the series.

Format

Each show is 30 minutes long and discusses five to six extinct species bound by a common theme (e.g. animals that became extinct for being too charismatic; animals that became extinct due to natural disasters). For each animal, a detailed sketch is shown, including the year when the last specimen died. The general characteristics, territorial habitat and location are discussed. For each animal, the feature ends with how they became endangered, and eventually extinct, including how and when the last specimen died. Often, live materials such as old films are included. In cases where such is unavailable, the live materials feature existing species that share the closest characteristics with the extinct animal.

Although the show specifically deals with animals that have become extinct, there was one episode that featured the theme of animals which were thought to be extinct, but have been rediscovered. Such has also been the case of some previously featured animals in the show, as scientists have eventually rediscovered extant populations or are attempting to revive species through selective breeding/cloning.

Animal list

Among the animals featured are:

Episodes
No.ThemeFeatured animals
1
Human exploitation
Thylacine ; pink-headed duck ; Barbary lion ; Caribbean monk seal ; huia ; Dawson's caribou
2
Introduction of other animals by humans
Hawaii O'o ; Hispanolian nesophont ; New Zealand grayling ; Lord Howe Island starling ; bulldog rat ; Gilbert's potoroo
3
Human greed
Passenger pigeon ; Wake Island rail ; Marion's giant tortoise ; Bonin wood pigeon ; Caucasian bison ; blackfin cisco
4
The skin and fur trade
Japanese wolf ; Burchell's zebra ; Carolina parakeet ; Bali tiger ; Arizona jaguar ; Merriam's wapiti
5
Human exploitation
Audubon's Badlands bighorn sheep ; Arabian ostrich ; Guam flying fox ; heath hen ; Culebra amazon parrot ; Syrian onager
6
Introduction of other animals by humans
Moorean tree snail ; Saint Helena giant earwig ; laughing owl ; pig-footed bandicoot ; Kona giant looper moth ; New Zealand bush wren
7
Habitat destruction
Palestinian painted frog ; Schomburgk's deer ; American ivory-billed woodpecker ; Lanai omao ; Round Island burrowing boa[lower-alpha 2] ; green solitaire
8
Human exploitation
Guadalupe caracara ; Newfoundland white wolf ; Mexican silver grizzly ; Toolache wallaby ; Florida black wolf ; Cape Verde skink
9
The skin and fur trade
Kamchatkan bear ; Great Plains lobo wolf ; mamo ; Californian grizzly bear ; sea mink ; Caspian tiger
10
Human exploitation
Barbados raccoon ; Portuguese ibex ; Gastric brooding frog ; longtailed hopping mouse ; Delalande's coucal ; Rufus gazelle
11
Human greed
Labrador duck ; Cape red hartebeest ; Nigerian pygmy hippo ; Philippine bare-backed fruit bat ; Shansi sika deer ; June sucker fish

Notes
  1. Recently, jaguars from Mexico, such as El Jefe, had visited Arizona.[1][2][3]
  2. Inaccurately referred to simply as the Round Island boa, which is a separate species.

References
  1. Arizona Game and Fish Department (2011). "Game and Fish confirms report of jaguar in southern Arizona". Arizona Game and Fish Department Media web page. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  2. Ames, J. (2016). "Jaguar seen on Fort Huachuca trail camera". Jaguar seen on Fort Huachuca. Raycom Media. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  3. "Rare jaguar sighting in Arizona, 60 miles north of Mexican border". Newsweek. 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
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