Reunion Owl (Mascarenotus grucheti)

Year Last Seen:

1650

Comments:

This species formerly occurred on the island of Réunion. It was probably driven Extinct after the island was colonised in the early 17th century, as a result of habitat loss, hunting or predation by invasive species.

Habitat:

Nothing is known, though it is likely to have been a forest species.

Causes:

Hunting, deforestation and the depredations of introduced predators may all be implicated in its decline.

Distribution:

Mascarenotus grucheti is only known from fossils (Cowles 1987) found on Réunion (to France) (Mourer-Chauviré et al. 1994), and presumably became extinct soon after the island's colonisation in the early 17th century.

References:

IUCN Redbook Data