Experts in shock after rediscovering rare species nearly 200 years after it went missing: 'Was thought to have been driven to extinction'

It turns out the Galápagos rail bird is not extinct after all. It's just a little shy.

The creature was first recorded by Charles Darwin on his five-week visit to the island of Floreana, in Ecuador's Galápagos archipelago, in 1835. With no sightings since, it was believed the species had died out.

However, the Galápagos Conservation Trust announced at the end of February that the bird with dark gray feathers, white spots, and red eyes had been spotted at three different sites.

"This is a beautiful surprise," said the Charles Darwin Foundation's Birgit Fessl, per The News Tribune.

Researchers recorded six calls and even photographed one of the birds as part of the Parque Nacional Galápagos annual survey.

"Of all the Galápagos Islands, Floreana has been the most altered by human activity, and the Galápagos rail was thought to have been driven to extinction on the island by invasive species," the Galápagos Conservation Trust observed. "This small terrestrial bird, endemic to Galápagos, is a poor flier, making it particularly vulnerable to introduced predators such as cats and rats."

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This is just one example of the negative impacts that humans can have on animal populations. The destruction of habitat can seriously reduce the chances of survival for various creatures, while the introduction of nonnative species of plants or animals can lead to historically native fauna and flora dying out — which can have severe impacts on biodiversity and the wider food web.

But that doesn't mean we can't reverse the damage. "This finding demonstrates that ecosystems can recover if given the opportunity," Galápagos National Park Director Arturo Izurieta said, per The News Tribune.

This has been shown in other areas across the globe. Coral reef restoration off the coast of Spain, for example, has saved 767 corals, benefiting the wider ocean ecosystem. Meanwhile, dam removal efforts in Europe have boosted water security and reversed nature loss.

Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species?

Definitely 👍