A species of curlew that was found in mainland Europe, north Africa and west Asia has become the first bird in the regions to become extinct globally. Conservationists said the loss of the slender-billed curlew was one of the “most devastating losses in a century”. Birds have gone extinct locally in the three regions, but this is the first global extinction from those areas, with none found anywhere in the world. The species, Numenius tenuirostris, was last incontrovertibly seen in Morocco about three decades ago. The slender-billed curlew, a shorebird, bred in western Siberia and wintered in the MediterraneanBut researchers at the Natural History Museum, the RSPB and other expert groups have now concluded there is a 96 per cent chance it is extinct.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 18, 2024 02:36 UTC