The pandemic has taught us the resilience of nature, animals thought to be extinct have made triumphant appearances during the period of confinement and here we gather all those who have come out of the darkness.
Nature is of an ineffable beauty that delights us with its biodiversity. Despite the human egoism that sometimes blinds us, it is imperative to recognize that the human being is not the only inhabitant of the planet.
Millions of other species accompany us on this journey, many of them have been left behind by natural factors. Nevertheless, Anthropogenic activities are the main cause of thousands of animal species becoming homeless and therefore end up becoming extinct.
But the strength of mother nature is amazing. There are cases of animals that were believed to be extinct and have reappeared in this 2020 thanks to the confinement that the world is experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
clouded leopard
The last time a sighting of the clouded leopard was made was in Taiwan in 1983. It was considered an endangered species until 2020 when a specimen was captured by accident. The cat appeared in the mountains of Phanom Dong Rak, in Thailand, near the Cambodian border.
Unfortunately, despite the revelation that there are still some clouded leopards left, it has not been removed from the critically endangered list. It is estimated that there is a population of about 10,000 specimens living in the mountains, after their natural habitat was destroyed three decades ago.
grey Wolf
The gray wolf whose scientific name is canis lupus lupus it had not been observed in the wild for a hundred years. The species was declared extinct in France in the first decades of the last century, due to indiscriminate hunting.
However, last April a specimen was spotted in a town in northern France. Thanks to the cameras installed by an inhabitant of the Normandy region, a specimen of a wolf could be observed, which the French Biodiversity Office later identified as a gray wolf.
New Guinea Singing Dog
The singing dog is a subspecies of wolf, it is extremely special due to its characteristic vocalization. Until a few months ago, this subspecies, a distant relative of the Australian dingo, was thought extinct for half a century.
The specimens that are known belong to singing dogs that live in captivity. But thanks to a recent investigation, it was found that the singing dog continues to live in the mountains. Scientists compared DNA from highland wild dogs with that of captive New Guinea singing dogs. Thanks to this, it was discovered that there is a genetic relationship, which suggests that the species is not extinct.
harlequin toad
melissa costales
This 1/2-inch-long amphibian is amazing. He lives in Ecuador where there are more than 25 species of atelopus of which more than half are believed to be extinct because they have not been seen since the 1980s.
A group of explorers ventured out in search of sightings of species that appear to be extinct. They were successful in finding at least five Harlequin Toads in a one-year period. Three of them in juvenile age, which means that the species continues to reproduce.
malavar civerta
It is a small mammal that used to live in the tropical regions of southwestern India. Its last sighting was made in 1987, from that year an extinct animal was believed due to poaching to obtain the precious musk (scented substance used in the cosmetic and perfumery industry).
The surprise is that the pandemic has taught us the resilience of Mother Nature. A Malavar civet specimen was captured in broad daylight on the streets of Meppayur, India.
The sighting of these animals that were believed to be extinct, opens the hope that there in distant lands where man has not yet been able to reach, there are more healthy species protected from anthropogenic activities.
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