Laysan Rail The Laysan rail, also referred to as the Laysan crake, was a tiny bird that inhibited the Laysan island in the Hawaii group. Introduction of rabbits led to habitat loss for the Laysan rail and World War II finally wiped off the species from the planet. With no predators to curb the number of rabbits, they ate the entire vegetation. There were around 2000 matured birds on the island in 1910, but within 13 years, i.e. by 1923, the number dropped to less than 10. Attempts to revive the Laysan rail population got a major setback when a US Navy landing craft accidentally broke free and drifted to islands, and all the rats onbaord ended up on the island thus colonizing it and marking the extinction of the Laysan rail species by 1944.
Little Swan Island Hutia The Little Swan Island Hutia was a guinea-pig-like rodent native to the Swan Islands in the Caribbean. It was a slow moving creature which left the caves and lime stone crevices to feed on barks, twigs and leaves. It was assumed to be a subspecies of Jamaican Hutia, supposedly brought to Swan Islands from Jamaica. Once found in abundance on the island, the Little Swan Island Hutia population received a major blow in form of a hurricane in 1955, which resulted in loss of habitat for this creature. Eventually the introduction house cats on the island led to the extinction of Little Swan Island Hutia after occasional sightings in early 1950s.
