The De-Extinction Controversy and the Passenger Pigeon Redivivus

I watched this little documentary about the impending de-extinction of the passenger pigeon. I found it interesting and sad.

I thought it was illuminating when the proponent of de-extinction was asked why he would want to bring back such an “annoying” creature. This attitude is doubtless part of the answer as to why the species went extinct. It’s not the entire answer, however. Farmers did lose their livelihoods when the birds descended en masse on crops. It wasn’t so much that the species was seen as an agricultural nuisance. Most accounts say that for the size of the population the impact on agriculture was rather small. Passenger pigeons liked to feed on mast, the fruit of forest trees, like acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts and the like. The deforestation that killed its habitat within its chosen range (Great Lakes to east coast) is a large part of the explanation of the extinction. But the fact that it was easily acquired prey and became a food staple for some populations (in the age of firearms) is the predominant reason this bird no longer exists.

A really readworthy essay from Audubon Magazine explains how the telegraph and the locomotive contributed to the extinction of the passenger pigeon.