[Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the Passenger Pigeon

[Rowe, Timothy B]

I'm quite glad to see that you have brought this portentous anniversary brought into the spotlight.

But what exactly do you mean by "human persecution"?

Audubon himself reported that the Passenger pigeon was breeding at a pace that mitigated human hunting pressures.  However, he warned that cutting the old growth forests was something that could pressure them into extinction.  There is ample literature to show that, state-by-state, as the portable saw mills took down the old forests, loss of adequate food and breeding environment was the proximate and immediate cause of extinction, not over-hunting.

But take comfort in the fact that even great luminaries like Jared Diamond and E. O. Wilson fell into the same trap - implying that human overkill was the source.

Here is why it is important to get this diagnosis correct: a hunting ban would not have saved the Passenger pigeon, but a logging ban just might have.

The causes of extinction are subtle - all the more reason to use this anniversary to promote research on this most critical topic.

Tim

Timothy Rowe
Director, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory
The University of Texas at Austin


________________________________
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Steve Sullivan <ssullivan at naturemuseum.org>
Sent: Monday, November 25, 2013 11:44 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] 2014 marks centenary of extinction of the Passenger Pigeon

This month many of our thoughts are turning towards turkeys but nearly a century ago we were thinking about another bird-the Passenger Pigeon.  2014 is the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon, a species that once numbered in the billions; flocks would darken the sky as they passed; 1 in 4 birds on the continent were Passenger Pigeons.  50 years of human persecution directly resulted in their extinction.  This astonishing loss stimulated the passage of several important wildlife protection laws including the migratory bird treaty act and the Lacy act.
Project Passenger Pigeon is a movement to commemorate this anniversary and use it not only as an opportunity to familiarize people with this remarkable species, but also to raise awareness of current issues related to human-caused extinction, explore connections between humans and the natural world, and inspire people to become more involved in building a sustainable relationship with other species.
We hope that you and your institution will join over 170 institutions throughout the world to commemorate this anniversary and use it to promote the conservation issues that are most relevant to your region.  Resources of all kinds-a book, exhibit panels, classroom lessons, a speaker's bureau, and more are available at http://passengerpigeon.org/ .   Attached is a letter that outlines these in more detail or just visit the website.
Yours,
Steve
Steven M. Sullivan  |  Senior Curator of Urban Ecology
The Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Museum|2430 North Cannon Drive|Chicago Illinois 60614|naturemuseum.org<http://www.naturemuseum.org/>
Collections|4001 North Ravenswood Ave.|Chicago Illinois 60613|projectsquirrel.org<http://projectsquirrel.org/>
P 708-937-6253 | F 773-755-5199 | ssullivan at naturemuseum.org

A century of memories and lessons from the Passenger Pigeon at passengerpigeon.org<http://passengerpigeon.org/>



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