Documenting extinctions: sighting the last Przewalski’s horses in the wild
Dr Monica Vasile, PhD Candidate Scholars warn we are currently facing a mass extinction event. To support this claim, they estimate catastrophic extinction rates. By comparison, the number of documented extinctions validated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List is tiny. Documenting the fact that a species is no more, or that it draws near the brink, proves to be a difficult task, prone to contention. Even for conspicuous species living in wide-open spaces, such as the Przewalski’s horse in the Mongolian steppes, expeditions and sightings were shrouded in controversy. How does one prove that a species has disappeared from the wild? This blog gives a glimpse into [Read more...]