ANIMALS IN DANGER

Extinct Answers

Rhinoceros Hornbill Chimpanzee Ostrich

How did you get on?

Can you believe that all of the animals below used to live in Britain at one time or another?!

(The Chimpanzee, Rhinoceros Hornbill and the Ostrich didn't.)

It’s not entirely clear when wild native brown bears went extinct in the UK. It could have been as long ago as the Bronze Age or as recent as the medieval period. Remains discovered in a cave in the Yorkshire Dales (not too far from Lancaster) show us that there were still brown bears living in Britain around 425 to 594 AD. However, these bears may have been imported into Britain from Europe by the Romans, for gladiator fighting and other so-called entertainment.

Elk fell into extinction in the UK over 3,000 years ago, in part because of over-hunting. Their meat, skin and antlers were all sought after. This already huge mammal actually has an even bigger extinct ancestor. The Irish elk roamed across Eurasia during the last glacial period (a cold spell marked by extensive glaciation), which ended over 11,000 years ago. From fossil discoveries, we know that its antlers could grow up to 3.5m wide and weighed 20kg each!

Wolves were hunted to extinction by the mid-18th Century The last wolf in England was supposedly killed at Humphrey Head in south Cumbria by the son of notorious wolf-hater (so the story goes) Sir Edgar Harrington. In recent times the population of grey wolves has quadrupled over in mainland Europe. Larger populations can also be found in North America, mainly Canada and Alaska, and Asia.

The Lynx has not been seen in Britain since medieval times. Deforestation was a major factor in the disappearance of the lynx, as it reduced their much-needed cover when hunting and led to a decline in deer populations, a key food source. As well as deer, lynx also ate Arctic hares and lemmings.