Lost Animals of the 20th Century Season 1

Mark Seen

Episode 1 Jan 11, 1995 With the head and teeth of a wolf, the stripes of a tiger, the ability to run like a hyena or hop like a wallaby, the Thylacine was one of the strangest creatures to have graced the earth. Once seen the exotic Pink Headed duck was never forgotten.

Mark Seen

Episode 2 Jan 18, 1995 The Hawaiian O-O's rich plumage was a prized source of decoration for the head dresses and robes of Polynesian Royalty. The rat-like Hispanolian Nesophont was never seen alive and we only know about it because scientists found its unusual skeleton.

Mark Seen

Episode 3 Jan 25, 1995 A pretty pigeon with a slate blue back and pale red breast, the Passenger Pigeon is considered to have been the most abundant bird which had ever lived. For the defenceless flying rail, this invasion of hungry soldiers at Wake Island proved deadly.

Mark Seen

Episode 4 Feb 1, 1995 The Badlands Sheeps huge armament of horns and and bulky body of muscle set it apart from all other sheep. The Arabian Ostrich may have been the worlds smallest ostrich but was still taller and heavier than any man.

Mark Seen

Episode 5 Feb 8, 1995 Having thrived on St. Helena with no natural predators to challenge it's existence, all was to change for the Giant Earwig with the arrival of Europeans. One of a multitude of small-island snail species that was annihilated due to a larger snail.

Mark Seen

Episode 6 Feb 15, 1995 When Lake Hula was drained to provide the water with which Israel was to colonise the Palestinian desert, nobody realised that it was the last home of this frog. This beautiful deer became rare with the conversion of its marshland home to paddy fields.

Mark Seen

Episode 7 Feb 22, 1995 When Lake Hula was drained to provide the water with which Israel was to colonise the harsh Palestinian desert nobody realised that it was the last home of this frog and even its discovery was merely an unfortunate precursor to its inevitable demise.

Mark Seen

Episode 8 Mar 1, 1995 The 'ghost wolf' as it was sometimes known, survived in the wilderness of Newfoundland. When Guadalupe goat herders, mistakenly assumed the falcon-like Quelili were attacking their flocks, war was declared with guns & poison and the bird was soon extinct.

Mark Seen

Episode 9 Mar 8, 1995 A gigantic bear with a beautiful thick coat, the Kamchatkan bear was heavier than a polar bear, due to the rich abundance of salmon, wild berries and roots to eat.

Mark Seen

Episode 10 Mar 15, 1995 This character that looked like a bandit did not have to wait long before it was put on a wanted poster with a price on its head. They were seen as pests and crop raiders , and when it was discovered that they could also carry diseases they were hounded.

Mark Seen

Episode 11 Mar 22, 1995 Everything about this sea duck remains a mystery, where it bred, why it became extinct, and when they became extinct! It was called the Skunk duck because of its black and white colouration and was found hanging in New York markets.

Mark Seen

Episode 12 Mar 29, 1995 These small, pale reindeer were living on the edge, in an extreme environment where increased predation by wolves, and competition for food by musk ox tipped the balance.

Mark Seen

Episode 13 Apr 5, 1995 These leopard frogs were found in isolated springs in the middle of the Nevada desert. With the arrival of gamblers to Las Vegas hotels and the area was developed. The last Vegas Valley leopard frog was seen in 1942.

Mark Seen

Episode 14 Apr 12, 1995 Named in 1888, this slim bodied kit fox was found in California. It was considered vermin by many farmers and was duly trapped, poisoned and shot. Road kills and night hunting also caused high rates of mortality.

Mark Seen

Episode 15 Apr 19, 1995 This diminutive bird which lived in burrows along the seaside cliffs were always at risk since they returned from the sea to their burrows to incubate their eggs and feed their chicks.

Mark Seen

Episode 16 Apr 26, 1995 Once abundant, these olive green iguanas were greatly reduced by hunting and the introduction of mongooses. They were found on the mainland, and Goat Island where they became extinct in 1948.