At a glance
- IUCN category
- EX · Extinct
- Animal group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Trend unknown
- Last verified
Conservation overview
Steller's sea cow was an enormous, slow plant-eating marine mammal of the North Pacific, a giant relative of the dugong and manatees. It is assessed as Extinct.
Discovered by Europeans in 1741, it was hunted out within about 27 years.
Range & habitat
Formerly the cold waters around the Commander Islands in the North Pacific.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Hunting by sailors and fur traders
- A tiny relict range
- Loss of the kelp it fed on
Why it matters
A giant marine grazer wiped out within a few decades of its discovery, Steller's sea cow is one of the fastest human-caused extinctions of a large animal on record.
Sources
Sources for Steller's Sea Cow
- IUCN Red List — look up Steller's Sea Cow (authoritative status)
- Animal Diversity Web
Frequently Asked Questions
How big was Steller's sea cow?
It was huge — far larger than today's manatees and dugongs, reaching several metres long and many tonnes, grazing kelp in cold northern seas.
How quickly did it go extinct?
Published accounts say it was hunted to extinction within roughly 27 years of being described by Europeans in 1741 — an extraordinarily rapid loss of a large animal.
Last updated: