Passenger Pigeons

The Passenger Pigeon

"The extinction of the passenger pigeon is a poignant example of what happens when the interests of man clash with the interests of nature. It is believed that this species once constituted 25 to 40 per cent of the total bird population of the United States. It is estimated that there were 3 billion to 5 billion passenger pigeons at the time Europeans discovered America."

The Passenger Pigeon - The Smithsonian Institute

It is possible, no matter how many we have of a particular creature, we can make them extinct because we eat them, hunt them, remove their habitat or forget to look after them as we develop our lifestyle and living environments. Passenger Pigeons should be plentiful and they we enjoyed as a part of society as we enjoy koalas, but now the passenger pigeon is no more and the article by the Smithsonian Institute shows just how much people are interested in this pigeon but also how it managed to become extinct. That they have kept careful records is a credit to them and good information for any nation who wished to protect wild life. Maybe they will be able to find some DNA and create one. It's the one thing I hope all this playing with DNA will be able to do, bring back the birds and animals we so stupidly let go from the planet.