Photo:Wiki Commons/public domain
One of the 13 Species Hunted to extinction Caribbean monk seal
The only known native seal to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean monk seal was officially declared extinct as recently as 2008, though none have been seen since 1952. It is the only species of seal ever recorded to have gone extinct primarily due to human causes.
Their demise was foreshadowed during Columbus’ 1494 voyage, when the tiny seals were first discovered. Described as “sea wolves” by Columbus himself, eight were recorded to have been killed and slaughtered for their meat.
Exposing the Big Game 
That is a long, sad list of our accomplishments on this earth. Just look at what we have to be “proud” of here in North America. There were approximately 60 million bison roaming here at one time but a few who made it to Yellowstone Park before the hunters could get to them survived to continue. There were grizzly bears and wolves throughout the United States, who were hunted unrelentingly. Passenger pigeons darkened the sky, but the last remaining bird, Martha, passed into extinction in 1914. We brought the wolves back and now special interest groups cannot wait to destroy them again. When we get enough grizzly bears to seem that we can save them from disappearing too, it’s determined that hunting is in order. Ecologists tell us that in some places, for example the rain forests, we will lose species before we even knew them and their value to this earth. It is a sorry state, indeed, that we ended up on top of the Great Chain of Being or the food chain or as THE children of God or whatever excuse we choose to call our dominion.
Reblogged this on ARA United News.