P-22, Passenger Pigeons and Us

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:29 am

An interesting article came out in the May-June 2014 issue of Audubon Magazine regarding Passenger Pigeons and, ultimately, human interaction with the environment.

Link: Why Passenger Pigeons went Extinct

Strictly food for thought.. perhaps I should have put this post in "The Pub"

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 10:34 pm

It's hard to imagine any creature in the numbers described. I can't help but think it was more than hunting that led to their extinction. The Carolina Parakeet has a similar story as far as the end result.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 2:47 pm

tracker wrote: It's hard to imagine any creature in the numbers described. I can't help but think it was more than hunting that led to their extinction. The Carolina Parakeet has a similar story as far as the end result.

I agree. There are certainly other pressures such as habitat loss that influence a relatively quick extinction. I've also wondered about an emergent disease in these situations. Think white-nose syndrome in bats... Knowledge of wildlife pathology or disease epidemiology in that era certainly wasn't what it is now.

tracker · Post by **tracker** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:41 pm

Mike P wrote: I agree. There are certainly other pressures such as habitat loss that influence a relatively quick extinction. I've also wondered about an emergent disease in these situations. Think white-nose syndrome in bats... Knowledge of wildlife pathology or disease epidemiology in that era certainly wasn't what it is now.

That's why I jump to point out when I see that there may be other possible explanations to situations. It irks me when I see science used to promote an agenda, while exculpatory data is not mentioned. It's like someone wants to enlighten me, but they are going to decide what information I need to know and what information is just, oh, too technical to be worth sharing.

Where's that soapbox emoticon again?