NPR

U.S. Says Ivory-Billed Woodpecker And More Than 20 Other Species Have Gone Extinct

Government scientists warn climate change, on top of other pressures, could make such disappearances more common.

BILLINGS, Mont. — Death's come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct.

It's a rare move for wildlife officials to give up hope on a plant or animal, but government scientists say they've exhausted efforts to find these 23. And they warn climate change, on top of other pressures, could make such disappearances more common as a warming planet adds to the dangers facing imperiled plants and wildlife.

The ivory-billed woodpecker was perhaps the best known species the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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