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Twenty-two animals are now considered extinct, including the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker

Twenty-two animals no longer exist in our world, according to US Fish and Wildlife Service, which took them off from the Endangered Species list last week. One of the animals now considered extinct has a legion of followers who, in spite of the fact that the most recent credible sighting was in 1944, believe it is still around.

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was once hunted for its beak, which some believed to actually be ivory. Others hunted the large bird for its meat.

Dr. Jerry Jackson of WGCU’s “With the Wild Things” literally wrote the book on the bird. We explore how deforestation committed by humans directly impacted this species’ inability to survive, and hear concerns for the old-growth forest habitat that is no longer protected for the sake of the once-endangered bird.

We'll also learn more about the Donald Eckelberrypainting of the last-known Ivory-bill flying over the cutover Singer Tract of Louisiana, April 1944.

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  • Dr. Jerry Jackson, Wildlife Biologist & host of of WGCU’s “With the Wild Things”
Donald Eckelberry painting of the last-known Ivory-bill flying over the cutover Singer Tract of Louisiana, April 1944.
Donald Eckelberry painting of the last-known Ivory-bill flying over the cutover Singer Tract of Louisiana, April 1944.