Extirpated Species
• Major causes of extinctions/extirpations
– Climate change (e.g., increased temperature during Holocene)
– Overharvesting (Pleistocene megafauna, modern game, furbearers)
– Habitat change/destruction (tallgrass prairie, wetland, forest)
Erithizon dorsatum(porcupine)
• Inhabited northeast Iowa hardwood forests
• Extirpated soon after Euroamerican invasion
• Still in southern Wisconsin
• Road kills in Clayton, Scott counties (1960s)
Canis lupus(gray wolf)
• Inhabited northern, western Iowa
• Last individual killed in Butler County (1885)
• Still in northern Minnesota
• Requires large forests or tundra, ungulates
Ursus americanus(black bear)
• Formerly statewide
• Extirpated by mid-1800s
• Still in Minnesota, Wisconsin
• At least 5 sightings since extirpation; 1997 in Allamakee County
Martes pennanti(fisher)
• Formerly rare in northern Iowa
• Extirpated by early 1800s
• Closest population in central Wisconsin
• Hunted for pelt; requires pine forests, porcupines
Gulo gulo(wolverine)• Formerly rare in
northeastern Iowa
• Extirpation date unknown
• Closest population
in northern Canada
• 1 in Tama County (1964)
Felis lynx(lynx)
• Formerly northern Iowa (coniferous forests); rare
• Extirpated in ?
• Still in northern Minnesota
• 1 in Shelby County (1963); avoids humans
Cervus canadensis(elk)• Formerly statewide
• Extirpated by 1871
• Reintroduced to Michigan, several other states
Alces alces(moose)
• First record in 1973 (not an extirpated species)
• Boreal species; unlikely to become established
• About 15 entered Iowa via Minnesota since 1973
Antilocapra americana
(pronghorn)• In western Iowa until
early 1800s
• In Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota
• Forbs (flowering, broadleaved herbs) essential in diet
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