What do you know about this? We had the echidna featured on the forum before, but there are others.

https://newatlas.com/environment/long-lost-species-golden-mole-rediscovered/

De Winton’s golden mole from South Africa is a small, blind, insect-eating mammal that owes its golden name to its pearl-like iridescent fur.

It hadn’t been seen for 87 years. The creature’s rediscovery marks Re:wild’s Most Wanted Lost Species 11th “lost” species to have been found since its program launched in 2017, New Atlas reported.

Previous rediscoveries included the silver-backed chevrotain in Vietnam, the Somali sengi in Djibouti, Voeltzkow’s chameleon in Madagascar, the Fernandina giant tortoise in the Galápagos, and Wallace’s giant bee and Attenborough’s echidna, both in Indonesia.

What I do know is that the number of people looking has increased. The detection methods have been enhanced. Luck has been a large part of it because we may well be lucky that some habitat exists so that the species has survived. Albeit in tiny numbers and without expanded habitat and compatible life forms, the system crashes mean that many more species will be lost or marooned.

roughbarked said:

What I do know is that the number of people looking has increased. The detection methods have been enhanced. Luck has been a large part of it because we may well be lucky that some habitat exists so that the species has survived. Albeit in tiny numbers and without expanded habitat and compatible life forms, the system crashes mean that many more species will be lost or marooned.

Yes better detection methods. The early discoveries are largely due to the method of shoot first and ask questions later. Which hasn’t been permitted for nearly 50 years, except in special cases like lobsters.

The original article seems to refer to this

https://www.rewild.org/lost-species/top-25-most-wanted-lost-species
https://www.rewild.org/lost-species-faq

The Search for Lost Species program started in 2017.

“After launching in 2017, we are now on the second iteration of our top 25 most wanted lost species list. In 2022, we rotated the eight lost species that had been rediscovered—Jackson’s Climbing Salamander in Guatemala, Wallace’s Giant Bee in Indonesia, Velvet Pitcher Plant in Indonesia, Silver-backed Chevrotain in Vietnam, Somali Sengi in Djibouti, Fernandina Galápagos Tortoise in the Galápagos, Sierra Leone Crab in Sierra Leone, and Voeltzkow’s Chameleon in Madagascar—and rotated eight new lost species onto the list.”

“Two of our lists—lost birds and lost freshwater fishes—represent more comprehensive partnerships under the broader Search for Lost Species program.”

“Our lost legends list are those that are, in all likelihood, extinct, and are often declared as such on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and are considered long-shots for rediscovery, but they live on in our collective imagination. Think Tasmanian Tiger and Ivory-billed Woodpecker—species that we hear about every few years when rumours of sightings make the headlines.”

On the other hand. This is a worry.
https://www.rewild.org/get-to-know/action-funds = 404 | Not Found

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

What I do know is that the number of people looking has increased. The detection methods have been enhanced. Luck has been a large part of it because we may well be lucky that some habitat exists so that the species has survived. Albeit in tiny numbers and without expanded habitat and compatible life forms, the system crashes mean that many more species will be lost or marooned.

Yes better detection methods. The early discoveries are largely due to the method of shoot first and ask questions later. Which hasn’t been permitted for nearly 50 years, except in special cases like lobsters.

The original article seems to refer to this

https://www.rewild.org/lost-species/top-25-most-wanted-lost-species
https://www.rewild.org/lost-species-faq

The Search for Lost Species program started in 2017.

“After launching in 2017, we are now on the second iteration of our top 25 most wanted lost species list. In 2022, we rotated the eight lost species that had been rediscovered—Jackson’s Climbing Salamander in Guatemala, Wallace’s Giant Bee in Indonesia, Velvet Pitcher Plant in Indonesia, Silver-backed Chevrotain in Vietnam, Somali Sengi in Djibouti, Fernandina Galápagos Tortoise in the Galápagos, Sierra Leone Crab in Sierra Leone, and Voeltzkow’s Chameleon in Madagascar—and rotated eight new lost species onto the list.”

“Two of our lists—lost birds and lost freshwater fishes—represent more comprehensive partnerships under the broader Search for Lost Species program.”

“Our lost legends list are those that are, in all likelihood, extinct, and are often declared as such on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and are considered long-shots for rediscovery, but they live on in our collective imagination. Think Tasmanian Tiger and Ivory-billed Woodpecker—species that we hear about every few years when rumours of sightings make the headlines.”

On the other hand. This is a worry.
https://www.rewild.org/get-to-know/action-funds = 404 | Not Found

Having had a little experience of rediscovering extinct species, it is not a simple ahh I’ve found one, now everything will be right for the species. Some species are not extinct, only growing in a remote region, often in an uncommon habitat just waiting for an interested person to happen by to rediscover it. Others although originally widespread, grew in a habitat that is also of interest to us and has been largely destroyed by land clearing, but a few individuals might survive in a small area, making these highly endangered and likely to go extinct unless special measures are taken.

Other species might be dependent on a bushfire passing through that will germinate waiting seed that quickly grow into a mature plant and produce vast quantities of seed to await the passing of another bushfire, meanwhile the mature plant only lives for a single growing season and then dies and quickly disappears. So unless an investigator happens upon the plant at the right time there will be no record of it and could be regarded as extinct if not found again within a 50-year period. There are many others of both flora and fauna that might show up again unless its habitat is destroyed and if that is the case and it is unlikely to survive, it can be regarded as having gone extinct after an appropriate period. However generally there are so many pressures on nature these days that extinctions are increasing at an alarming rate and most species cannot be saved.