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The Conversation
The Conversation
Esther Kettel, Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation, Nottingham Trent University

Slender-billed curlews are officially extinct – here’s why the loss of these migratory birds really matters

IUCN the International Union for Conservation of Nature Extinction The Conversation United Kingdom
The Eurasian curlew, a close relative of the now-extinct slender-billed curlew. David Havel/Shutterstock

The slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) has been officially declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

This is the first-ever recorded global bird extinction from mainland Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. An accolade that no species wants. Yet, sadly, here we are. So how did we get here and what does this tragic extinction mean?

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