This is a summary of the text:
The text is about various animal species that have gone extinct or are on the verge of extinction due to human activities or natural causes. Some of the examples are:
- The wild Chinese river dolphin, which was killed by overfishing, navigation and pollution in the Yangse River.
- The Barbary lion, which was hunted for its size and mane and lost its habitat due to the Roman and Arab empires.
- The tarpan, a wild horse that was domesticated by nomads and then persecuted by peasants for eating crops and mating with mares.
- The pterodactyl, a mythical creature that was allegedly shot by cowboys in 1890, but was probably a hoax or a misidentification.
- The passenger pigeon, which was once the most abundant bird in the US, but was decimated by professional hunters, farmers and fashion seekers for its meat and feathers.
- The Eskimo curlew, which was shot down by American and Canadian hunters during its long migration from Alaska to Argentina.
- The Carolina parrot, which was hunted for its colorful feathers and kept as pets, and also killed as a pest for destroying crops.
- The copa fish, which lived in the hot springs of the Mojave Desert, but disappeared when the springs were flooded for a hydroelectric project.
- The Zanzibar leopard, which was believed to be used by witches for their evil deeds and was exterminated by a witch hunter campaign.
- The giant auk, which was clumsy on land and defenseless against humans who captured it for food and fashion.
- The earthworm and pollinus pederensis, which was only described once in 1971 before its habitat was flooded in 1972.
- The blue hippotragus, which was the first African mammal hunted to extinction around 1800.
- The azurina eupalama fish, which vanished due to the El Niño phenomenon that reduced its food source of plankton in the Galapagos Islands.
- The rocky mountain locust, which formed enormous swarms that darkened the sky and devoured crops and vegetation, but was eradicated by human intervention.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Chinese river dolphin, also known as the Baiji, is considered to be the only extinct cetacean in recent history in China.
2. The Baiji lived exclusively in the Yangtze River in China.
3. The last confirmed sighting of the Baiji was over 20 years ago.
4. The Barbary Lion is an extinct subspecies of lion that once roamed the deserts and mountains of North Africa.
5. The Barbary Lion was believed to be the largest subspecies of lion.
6. The Tarpan is a species of wild horse that once roamed across Europe, but is now extinct.
7. The Tarpan was domesticated by nomads around 3000 BC.
8. The Passenger Pigeon was once the most abundant bird species in the United States, with an estimated 3-5 billion individuals.
9. The Passenger Pigeon was hunted to extinction in the early 20th century.
10. The last known Passenger Pigeon died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo.
11. The Eskimo Curlew is a bird species that is considered to be extinct, with the last confirmed sighting in 1963.
12. The Carolina Parrot was a bird species that was hunted for its feathers and is now extinct.
13. The last known Carolina Parrot died in 1918 at the Cincinnati Zoo.
14. The Copa is a species of fish that lived in the hot springs of the California Mojave Desert and is now extinct.
15. The Zanzibar Leopard is a subspecies of leopard that is considered to be extinct, with the last confirmed sighting in 2003.
16. The Great Auk was a bird species that was hunted to extinction in the mid-19th century.
17. The last known Great Auk was killed in 1844.
18. The Azurina eupalama is a species of fish that was found in the Galapagos Islands and is now extinct.
19. The Blue Hippotragus was a species of antelope that was hunted to extinction in the early 19th century.
20. The Earthworm and Pollinus pederensis is a species of earthworm that was discovered in 1971 and is now extinct.
21. The Rocky Mountain Locust was a species of locust that was once abundant in the western United States and is now extinct.
22. The Rocky Mountain Locust was known for its massive swarms that could cover large areas of land.
23. The last known specimen of the Rocky Mountain Locust was seen in 1902.
Note: Some of the dates mentioned in the text are not included in the above list as they are not specific enough or are not relevant to the key facts.