Japanese river otter
環境省は、国の特別天然記念物（special natural monument）のほ乳類「ニホンカワウソ」（Japanese river otter）を「絶滅危惧種」（critically endangered species）から「絶滅種」に指定した（declared extinct）と発表しました。昭和まで生息が確認されていたほ乳類が「絶滅種」に指定されたのは初めてのことだそうです。またまたヒトが生態系を変えてしまったのです。残念です。（Minnesota）
Japanese river otter declared extinct
The Japanese river otter, which had been categorized as a critically endangered species, was declared extinct by the Ministry of the Environment on Aug. 28. In making the announcement, the ministry said the species of otter, designated as a special natural monument, had not been sighted for over 30 years.
The Japanese river otter is the first mammal in Japan confirmed to have survived until the Showa period (1926-1989) before being designated extinct. The four other species of mammal that had already been declared extinct in Japan -- the Okinawa megabat Pteropus loochoensis, the Ogasawara bat Pipistrellus sturdeei, the Hokkaido wolf, and the Honshu wolf -- had not survived past the Meiji period (1868-1912).
