100 years passed that passenger pigeon “Martha”as species went extinct by this year 2014 September 1st. The passenger pigeon took its last breath at Cincinnati Zoo; the bird is most abundant in North America.
It was Totally Our Fault
The birds were found all over the United States, they lived in greatest abundance in Ohio and also surrounding states.
John James Audubon was one of the first naturalists; recounts witnessed a flock so large along the Ohio River it took three days.
Unexpectedly, 100 years ago, it was just beginning to grasp the effect was having on the natural world. Hunting the passenger pigeon for meat supply and rapidly growing cities in East resulted in the yearly slaughter millions of birds. Catastrophic loss of their nesting places with rapid deforestation of the eastern and Midwestern states. These sudden effects changed the fate of the Passenger Pigeon, within 50 years of time the birds comprised 40% of entire migratory birds.
People living in North America passenger pigeons were hunted for as long time, people hunting for their own consumption showed only little effect, but in the 19th century geographic range of the pigeon were transformed as large swaths of the forest were changed to agriculture. Well, it is not that passenger pigeons were lost to deforestation and also people living there, but the most effect was worth hunting them for meat. In 1851, almost 1.8 million passenger pigeons were sent to markets from Plattsburgh, and more than 1 billion passenger pigeons sent to markets from Petoskey.
This tragic story of passenger pigeons realized Americans to protect species like whooping crane and American bison. They opened their eyes and that came to the realization that natural resources and treasured wildlife species valuable to let perish, they need to be protected for future generations.
For 40 years, Americans maintained record of protecting our own imperiled wildlife at risk. 60 years after the Passenger Pigeon loss, Congress Passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and bird lovers should really thank them. With the help of this ESA organization, we saved bald eagles, peregrine falcons, Florida manatees, Southern sea otters, American alligators, grizzly bears, black-footed ferrets and hundreds of different species.
The plan is to obtain DNA from preserved passenger pigeons, with a lot of money and technology improved in these days; we may see this plan could get success in the coming years. We can bring back the pigeons with the strength of the bio – tech revolution.
