The history of the extinction of the passenger pigeon
If you think there are currently many pigeons â€" also popularly known as air rats â€" try to imagine a flock of these birds with about one mile wide and five miles long.This would be the existing totality of passenger pigeons, a species of pigeons native to North America and the most common in the United States in the mid-19th century. However, the species is now extinct. The last copy of these animals, Martha, died in September 1914 with 29 years at the Cincinnati Zoo.But what caused the extinction of this animal? The answer is simple: the animal knew well. On the other hand, it was also easy to capture and kill.The animal served as food for humans for several centuries, but its massive consumption began in the 18th century. "In 1781, after a failed harvest, a flock of pigeons saved much of the population of New Hampshire of hunger," said Joel Greenberg in his book about the history of the animal â€" "the Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction"-cites the Dodo.While the United States remained a rural country and free of expressways, hunting these animals had no major consequences. However, after the Civil War the scenery began to change with the advent of the Telegraph, easily if you knew where they were flocks of these animals and their nests. In this way, the hunters quickly arrived at the site and killing the animals to sell in cities thousands of miles away.Due to intensive hunting of this animal as a snack, in the early 20th century the species was virtually extinct. "The passenger pigeon Hunted to death, even if you don't understand at the time what we were doing. We could have saved him if our technological genius and our awareness of conservation â€" two aspects that set us apart from other animals â€" had been matched earlier, "Greenberg writes.Foto:  Seabamirum / Creative Commons
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