Is the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Extinct or Just Hiding?
2022-07-18
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1Is an animal or bird extinct if no one has seen it in almost 80 years?
2Or is it just good at hiding from those looking for it?
3That is a question the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to answer about a large bird called the ivory-billed woodpecker.
4No one has seen it since 1944.
5The woodpecker has been on the critically endangered list for a number of years.
6Right now, however, the Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to decide if it is no longer living.
7If it is considered extinct, it would no longer be protected by the U.S. government.
8The bird is one of the largest woodpeckers.
9It once lived in the old forests in the southern U.S.
10However, the wood cutting industry destroyed the bird's habitat, or living place.
11Some birdwatchers believe the birds still live deep in the remaining forests and swamps in the American south.
12Those places are hard to reach. And no one has seen the ivory-billed woodpecker in nearly 80 years.
13Christian Cooper is an experienced birdwatcher.
14He called the woodpecker "something of a holy grail of North American birding."
15"Even though it's almost 95 percent certain that it's gone, there's that slender chance that there's still a population, small population, hanging on to be found in some remote swampy forest in the south."
16The bird was placed on a list of 23 species that may be extinct last September.
17But after many birdwatchers complained, the agency decided to delay its decision about the woodpecker from this September until March 2023.
18But birdwatchers only have until August 7 to provide photographic evidence that the woodpeckers still live.
19Cooper noted that a research group led by the National Aviary in Pittsburgh recently said it found evidence of the bird in Louisiana, using unmanned cameras and listening for its special call.
20The group would not say the area of the study because it hopes to keep the birds safe.
21The study has not been fully examined by other bird experts.
22Ian Fischer is a spokesperson for U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
23He said there is a lot of "passion...for this bird ... but there has been no clear evidence that it lives, unfortunately."
24The species on the proposed extinction list include: a fruit bat, 11 birds including the woodpecker, eight freshwater mussels, and two kinds of fish.
25Cooper expressed a bit of hope that the mysterious bird may not be extinct.
26"So, is the bird gone? Is the bird still around? No one can say for certain, but there's always hope."
27I'm Dan Friedell.
1Is an animal or bird extinct if no one has seen it in almost 80 years? Or is it just good at hiding from those looking for it? 2That is a question the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to answer about a large bird called the ivory-billed woodpecker. 3No one has seen it since 1944. 4The woodpecker has been on the critically endangered list for a number of years. Right now, however, the Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to decide if it is no longer living. If it is considered extinct, it would no longer be protected by the U.S. government. 5The bird is one of the largest woodpeckers. It once lived in the old forests in the southern U.S. However, the wood cutting industry destroyed the bird's habitat, or living place. 6Some birdwatchers believe the birds still live deep in the remaining forests and swamps in the American south. Those places are hard to reach. And no one has seen the ivory-billed woodpecker in nearly 80 years. 7Christian Cooper is an experienced birdwatcher. He called the woodpecker "something of a holy grail of North American birding." 8"Even though it's almost 95 percent certain that it's gone, there's that slender chance that there's still a population, small population, hanging on to be found in some remote swampy forest in the south." 9The bird was placed on a list of 23 species that may be extinct last September. But after many birdwatchers complained, the agency decided to delay its decision about the woodpecker from this September until March 2023. 10But birdwatchers only have until August 7 to provide photographic evidence that the woodpeckers still live. 11Cooper noted that a research group led by the National Aviary in Pittsburgh recently said it found evidence of the bird in Louisiana, using unmanned cameras and listening for its special call. The group would not say the area of the study because it hopes to keep the birds safe. The study has not been fully examined by other bird experts. 12Ian Fischer is a spokesperson for U.S. Fish and Wildlife. He said there is a lot of "passion...for this bird ... but there has been no clear evidence that it lives, unfortunately." 13The species on the proposed extinction list include: a fruit bat, 11 birds including the woodpecker, eight freshwater mussels, and two kinds of fish. 14Cooper expressed a bit of hope that the mysterious bird may not be extinct. 15"So, is the bird gone? Is the bird still around? No one can say for certain, but there's always hope." 16I'm Dan Friedell. 17Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report from Reuters and his own reporting. 18_______________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20extinct- adj. no longer existing 21critical -adj. extremely important 22swamp -n. land that is always wet and sometimes covered with water 23holy grail - n. something you want very much but is very hard to get 24slender -adj. small or limited 25remote -adj. far away or distant 26species -n. a group of animals or plants that are similar 27passion -n. a strong feeling of enthusiasm 28_____________________________________________________________________ 29What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. 30We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 31Write your comment in the box. 32Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 33Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 34Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.