The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Friday officially declared the slender-billed curlew (Numenius tenuirostris) extinct. It is the first recorded global extinction of a once widespread migratory bird species that ranged across mainland Europe, North Africa, and West Asia.
The last confirmed sighting of the bird was on February 25, 1995, at Merja Zerga lagoon in Morocco. Decades of exhaustive searches failed to locate any surviving individuals, leading to the formal extinction announcement at the IUCN headquarters in Bonn.
“This devastating loss underlines the urgent and sustained need for stronger, coordinated conservation efforts for migratory birds,” the IUCN said in its statement.
Warning Sign for Migratory Birds
Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), called the announcement “a tragic and sobering moment for migratory bird conservation.” She added, “It underscores the urgency of implementing effective conservation measures to ensure the survival of migratory species. Hopefully, the loss of this species will help galvanise action to protect other threatened migratory species.”
The slender-billed curlew, once numbering in the thousands, was listed under CMS Appendix I and II when the convention was signed in 1979. In 1994, an international memorandum of understanding was signed by 30 range states to protect the species. By that time, fewer than 50 individuals were thought to remain.
Its breeding grounds stretched across the forested steppe of western Siberia and Kazakhstan. The birds migrated each year to wintering sites around the Mediterranean and North Africa.
Jacques Trouvilliez, Executive Secretary of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), said the curlew’s extinction highlights the growing threats to migratory birds. “Two-thirds of bird species are in decline,” he said. “The extinction of the slender-billed curlew serves as a reminder that conservation frameworks must be implemented swiftly, backed by adequate science, resources, and political will.”
Several other species listed under AEWA have moved to higher risk categories on the IUCN Red List. These include the grey plover, the broad-billed sandpiper, and the curlew sandpiper, all now listed as vulnerable. The ruddy turnstone and dunlin have been reclassified as near threatened.
Nicola Crockford, Chair of the CMS/BirdLife Slender-Billed Curlew Working Group, said, “With new technologies and knowledge now available, there is no excuse for allowing such tragedies to repeat. You cannot restore a species once it is gone.”
Four Decades Lost, One Bird
The extinction marks the end of a long and largely unsuccessful conservation effort that spanned more than four decades. The bird’s decline began in the late 19th century, as large tracts of its breeding habitat were converted to farmland in Russia and Kazakhstan. The loss accelerated during the 1950s under the Soviet Union’s Virgin Lands campaign, which plowed millions of hectares of steppe into cropland.
On its migration route, the bird faced heavy hunting pressure. It was often shot and sold in markets across southern Europe and North Africa.
John O’Sullivan, an ornithologist who joined an expedition to Kazakhstan in 1990, said, “We knew the population was in serious trouble. We searched more than 100,000 square kilometers and didn’t find a single nest.”
The last person known to have seen the species nesting was Russian ornithologist Valentin Ushakov in 1924. He described the discovery as “a magical picture” and wrote that he felt “very happy having discovered a new page in the great book of nature.”
British photographer Chris Gomersall captured the final confirmed image of the bird in February 1995 at Merja Zerga. The same individual had been spotted days earlier by birdwatchers Martin Davies and a colleague during an expedition to Morocco. “It was feeding among wild cresses with Eurasian curlews,” Davies recalled. “It looked delicate and slimmer, with a distinctly shorter bill.”
Farewell, But Lessons Remain
Last year, experts from BirdLife International, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and the Natural History Museum reviewed all available evidence and concluded that the species was almost certainly extinct. Friday’s IUCN declaration made that conclusion official.
“The slender-billed curlew is the greatest tragedy of my life,” said Crockford, who also serves as a principal policy officer at the RSPB. “When I talk about migration flyways, I always start with its story. We must use the lessons learned from the slender-billed curlew to stop it happening again.”
A memorial event for the species will be held later this month in Bonn, where the CMS treaty was first signed in 1979. Delegates from more than 130 countries are expected to attend.
Fraenkel said the service will not only mark the loss but also serve as “a call to strengthen conservation for migratory species still within our reach.”
Among them is the spoon-billed sandpiper, another critically endangered shorebird that migrates across Asia. Its survival, experts say, will depend on international cooperation.
For many in the conservation community, the extinction of the slender-billed curlew closes a painful chapter. But as Crockford put it, “We must use the loss again and again so that the slender-billed curlew didn’t die in vain.”
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