Extinct or Endangered Animals
The Alphabet Series
This show was called Every Square Inch of Her, and featured my art and that of my sister, Joy Ann Bacon.
I cannot remember the exact article, animal or issue that lead to my initial curiosity regarding animal extinction. What I can tell you is that once my research began it was a completely consuming and emotionally draining journey. It became a near obsessive discovering of species that had been eradicated through habitat loss, hunting for food or fashion, and the most reprehensible in my mind is extinction due to killing for sport. If I, who felt deep connections with wildlife, knew so very little about historical and contemporary extinction, what would the general knowledge of others be like? That was the beginnings of the Alphabet Series. Like the primary grade posters in most North American classrooms, this was to be a similar but darker teaching tool. The main animal in each painting was drawn by hand from images found on the internet using chalk and oil pastel, and ink. The secondary animals, whose names also begin with the corresponding letter, have been transferred on to the canvas. The embedded dictionary scraps feature words for the corresponding letter of each painting, for example “A” atrocious, “B” bewildering, etc. My explanations for the causes of each population demise are brief and it is well worth a quick search to more fully understand the often complex reasons for each species decimation. Thanks to all who purchased work from this fundraising project, with Oceana, Ecojustice, Nova Scotia Nature Trust and the Osprey Arts Centre being the recipients.
Atlas Wild Ass
Equus africanus atlanticus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinction (ca. 300AD) believed to be the result of Roman sport hunting.
Blue Whale
Balaenoptera musculus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Threatened by overfishing (historically), noise pollution, ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear.
Caspian Tiger
Panthera tigris virgata
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
In the early 20th century, the Russian government ordered the army to eliminate the tigers to clear land for farming and settlement. They have been considered extinct as of 2003.
Dodo
Raphus cucullatus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Believed extinct since 1662 from overhunting, habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species. They were known as clever and curious creatures who trusted humans.
Eskimo Curlew
Numenius borealis
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
No confirmed sightings since 1963. Once one of the most numerous birds in Canada, they were hunted to extinction.
Fowler’s Toad
Anaxyrus fowleri
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Species at risk due to human activity in beach and dune habitats, as well as agricultural chemicals.
Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee
Bombus bohemicus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
This endangered species is threatened across Canada by disease from non-native commercial bees, pesticides and habitat loss.
Hadley Lake Threespine Stickleback
Gasterosteus aculeatus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct since 2000 mostly from nest predation by introduced brown bullhead catfish.
Ilin Island Cloudrunner
Crateromus paulus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from Ilin Island in the Philippines since 1953 due to forest destruction.
Japanese Sea Lion
Zalophus japonicus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct since the 1970’s due to commercial hunting for lamp oil and eastern medicines.
King Island Emu
Dromaius novaehollandiae minor
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from King Island since 1805 only three years after contact by early settlers due to hunting and fires. Last captive pair died in 1822 in Paris.
Labrador Duck
Camptorhynchus labradorious
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from the upper eastern seaboard in North America since 1878 due to egg harvesting, the feather trade and a decline in their shellfish food source.
Mexican Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from Northern Mexico and Southern USA by 1976. Although their diets consisted mostly of plants, fruits and insects, they occasionally hunted cattle. Thus, they were hunted trapped and poisoned to extinction.
Nova Scotia Mainland Moose
Alces alces americana
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Endangered since 2003 and numbers are estimated to be under 700 due to overhunting and forest habitat destruction from clear cutting. The last legal hunting season was in 1937 but declines continued with poaching. Brainworm was identified in 1964 and continues to infest the few remaining. Another moose subspecies was introduced to Cape Breton Island from Alberta in 1947-8.
O’ahu OO
Moho apicalis
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct since 1837 due to habitat destruction, hunting for feathers and mosquito-born diseases.
Pinta Island Tortoise
Chelonoidis abingdonii
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct due to hunting. The last known survivor “Lonesome George” died June 24, 2012 at the Charles Darwin Research Station in Ecuador.
Quagga
Equus quagga quagga
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct since the late 1800’s. Heavily hunted for meat and hides after Dutch settlement in South Africa and because of competition with domestic animals for forage.
Rück’s Blue Flycatcher
Cyornis rückii
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Native to Indonesia but there have been no confirmed sightings since 1918 due to total destruction of lowlands forests as a result of logging, agriculture and mining.
Sea Mink
Neovison macrodon
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from Maritime provinces and New England coastal areas since the early 1900’s. They were hunted by fur traders, often using dogs and tools like crowbars before any protective laws were enacted to prevent over “harvesting”.
Tarpan
Equus ferus ferus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct throughout Eurasia since the 1890’s due to excessive hunting, habitat destruction and continuous breeding with domestic horses.
Ua Pou Monarch
Pomarea mira
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Critically endangered and possibly extinct in French Polynesia due to heavily degraded forest habitats.
Vulture, White Rumped
Gyps bengalensis
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Critically endangered in Southeast Asia since 2000. Although the global population was in the millions in the 1980’s, as of 2016 there were less than 10,000 mature individuals. This is largely due to ingestion of the veterinary drug diclofenac found in livestock carcasses.
Western Black Rhino
Diceros bicornis longipes
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16
After existing on earth for 8 million years, they are extinct from Subsaharan Africa since 2011 due to overhunting and poaching. Protection efforts in the 1930’s helped but when such efforts declined so did the the Rhinos.
Xantus’s Murrelet
Synthliboramphus hypoleucus
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Endangered due to oil spills on breeding grounds and artificial light pollution from offshore facilities making them easy prey for natural predators.
Yellowfin Cutthroat
Oncorhynchhus clarkii macdonaldi
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from Colorado after 1903 primarily due to overfishing, habitat degradation from mining, and the introduction of rainbow trout.
Zosterops strenuus
Big Grinnel or Robust white-eye
Mixed Media, 2019
12″ x 16″
Extinct from Australia by 1923 after rats were accidentally introduced by ships.
