Cape Verde Giant Skink

"The last known specimens of the 'Lagaro', as it was called by the Cape Verde fishermen, were captives in German collections around 1914, but the islanders claim that it did not finally die out in the wild until about 1940. It had long been prized as a source of meat by visiting fishermen and suffered especially from human persecution in 1833 when, during a famine, a group of 30 convicts were put ashore on Branco and left to fend for themselves. The main cuase of the Giant Skink's extinction, however, seems to have been severe droughts and consequent vegetation loss and soil erosion."