Slender-billed curlew declared officially extinct after 29 years

The slender-billed curlew, a once-elusive waterbird, has been declared officially extinct, researchers from the British Bird Conservation Society and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden announced in a scientific article. The bird was last seen alive in 1995, and researchers now assert with 99.6 percent certainty that no living specimens remain.

The findings, published in the ornithological journal IBIS, used statistical models to calculate the likelihood of extinction. The slender-billed curlew, known for inhabiting Europe, including the Netherlands, as well as parts of West Asia and North Africa, is now visible only as taxidermied specimens in museums. One such preserved example is housed in Amsterdam’s Allard Pierson Museum.

Researchers attribute the extinction primarily to human actions, including habitat destruction and hunting. Justin Jansen, a guest researcher at Naturalis, emphasized the role of these factors, noting the bird’s fragile existence even decades ago.

“In the 1980s, the slender-billed curlew was already considered a ‘holy grail’ among birdwatchers,” Jansen said. “People flocked to Morocco in hopes of seeing it before it disappeared. Even then, there was an awareness that the species was in severe decline.”

The slender-billed curlew was last observed in February 1995 in Morocco. Historically, the species had been rare in the Netherlands and was primarily known through museum specimens long before its extinction was confirmed.

Despite its limited population, the slender-billed curlew once spanned a vast range across continents. Now, it is remembered as a relic of the past.

Jansen highlighted how human encroachment affected the bird’s survival. “Humans occupied much of the space the bird relied on for hunting and nesting,” he said. Researchers have emphasized the importance of the findings as a somber reminder of the fragility of wildlife and the lasting impact of human activities. The extinction serves as a stark marker in the ongoing struggle to preserve biodiversity worldwide.