King Island Emu (Dromaius minor)
Posted on 31 December, 1802 in Extinct
Year Last Seen:
1802
Comments:
This species was formerly found on King Island, Australia, but is now considered Extinct. It was last recorded in 1802, and likely had been exterminated through hunting by 1805.
Habitat:
It was reported to prefer the shady margins of lagoons and the shoreline (Marchant and Higgins 1991).
Causes:
Its extinction was presumably a result of being hunted by sealers for food (Marchant and Higgins 1991).
Distribution:
Dromaius ater was endemic to King Island in the Bass Strait, Australia (Stattersfield et al. 1998). Numerous skeletal remains have been found, but only one skin exists, collected by Baudin in 1802 and now in Paris (Jouanin 1959). The species' extinction must have followed shortly thereafter (Hume and Walters 2012).