© fws.orgThe Maui ākepa (left) and Mariana fruit bat are among the species now listed as extinct.
Nearly two dozen endangered species are now classified as extinct by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the latest conservation "wake-up call."
The agency announced that 21 species will be delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction
as of Tuesday but will not go into effect until next month.
"Federal protection came too late to reverse these species' decline, and it's a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it's too late," Service Director Martha Williams said in a statement.
The list of species includes the Little Mariana fruit bat, also known as the Mariana flying fox, which was first classified as endangered in 1984 and last seen in 1968. The bat is the only mammal recently declared extinct on the list, which features 10 birds, two fish and eight mussels.
