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The Environment

The Human Cause of Animal Extinction

In middle school classrooms, the gist of the Ice Age is often explained as, "It got really cold and all the animals became extinct.” Recently, however, scientists have been taking a closer look at where and when human behavior affected the extinction of species, instead of climate change. Recent findings in Tasmania prove that certain ancient species, like the giant kangaroo and marsupial rhino and leopard, were still inhabiting the island when humans first arrived, leading the research team to conclude that the animals' extinction was due to human hunting, not the Ice Age.