Passenger pigeon Thorough account the most abundant bird in N. America and perhaps the world. • Once Invaluable asset to the first Americans and the colonists. • Hunted by game seekers • Slaughtered by farmers • Extinct in the wild by 1900 and in captivity in 1914 • exhibition of • Congressman John F. Lacy (1900): “We have given an awful slaughter and destruction, which may serve as a warning to all mankind. Let us now give an example of wise conservation of what remains of the gifts of nature.”. That year Congress passed the Lacey Act, followed by the tougher • Act in 1913 and, five years later, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Audubon 2014). Interesting that our most shameful act of slaughter inspired the first protective measures. An NGO is planning to recreate the species using genetic technology (like Jurassic • Park). Good idea? Many birds have gone extinct due to desire for meat (understandable?) but also for feathers. Yes, really. Bird feathers make and these were all the rage for decades from the 1890s to 1913. Ended by grassroots movement begun by Extinct United States Birds Extinct 1904 habitat loss hunting for feathers – – Labrador Duck extinct 1878 – (over-harvesting eggs, feathers) Great Auk extinct 1844 (eggs and down) –
Passenger pigeon Thorough account • Once the most abundant bird in N. America and perhaps the world. • Invaluable asset to the first Americans and the colonists. • Hunted by game seekers • Slaughtered by farmers • Extinct in the wild by 1900 and in captivity in 1914 • Congressman John F. Lacy (1900): “We have given an awful exhibition of slaughter and destruction, which may serve as a warning to all mankind. Let us now give an example of wise conservation of what remains of the gifts of nature.”. • That year Congress passed the Lacey Act, followed by the tougher Act in 1913 and, five years later, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Audubon 2014). Interesting that our most shameful act of slaughter inspired the first protective measures. • An NGO is planning to recreate the species using genetic technology (like Jurassic Park). Good idea? Many birds have gone extinct due to desire for meat (understandable?) but also for feathers. Yes, really. Bird feathers make and these were all the rage for decades from the 1890s to 1913. Ended by grassroots movement begun by Extinct United States Birds Extinct – 1904 habitat loss – hunting for feathers Labrador Duck – extinct 1878 (over-harvesting eggs, feathers) Great Auk – extinct 1844 (eggs and down)
2016%20Lecture%2008%20-%20Extinction.docx