In the last 500 years, human activity has forced 816 species to extinction (or extinction in the wild). 25 percent of all amphibians, and 34 percent of fishes are threatened with extinction. It is estimated that every day one species goes extinct. In the last 200 years, 500 recorded species in the U.S. have become extinct, more than half of these extinctions occurred since 1980. Experts agree that the number-one cause of extinction is habitat destruction.