Extinction
Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"
Meaning
Extinction is the permanent loss of a species. Once a species is extinct, it never comes back. Extinction is part of nature. About 99% of all species that ever lived are extinct, and an average species lasts 1–4 million years. But human activity, through habitat loss, hunting, pollution and invasive species, now drives extinction far faster than the natural rate.
Example
The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952 because of hunting and habitat loss. It still survived in Africa, so under Project Cheetah, animals from Namibia (2022) and South Africa (2023) were brought to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.
Don't confuse with
- Local extinction: a species disappears from one country or region but survives elsewhere, as the cheetah did in India. True extinction means it is gone from the whole Earth.
Related concepts
- Loss of biodiversity
- Habitat loss
- Exotic species
- Invasive alien species
- Poaching
- Overfishing
- IPBES
- Living Planet Report