Passenger (carrier) pigeons were once the most numerous bird species on the planet with around 1 billion birds. The last known colony was reported in Michigan. When Martha arrived at the zoo in 1902 she was one of the few remaining carrier pigeons. The species had been ruthlessly slaughtered between 1880-1900 by hunters who used them for food and for live targets. The Cincinnati Zoo, in a desperate attempt to help replenish the species, offered $1,000 for a mate for Martha, but none could be found. The photo below is one of the 5 original bird aviary buildings that were built in 1875. Martha died in one of these buildings Sept. 2, 1914 and it is now a memorial to her and to the Carolina Parakeet which also has disappeared from the planet. Martha died when she was an old and frail 29 years old bird. Her body was packed in 300 lbs of ice and sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. where it remains today.
Inca, the last Carolina Parakeet, has never gotten as much "paper" as Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon. I wonder why? Maybe he is just a bird in the era of Martha? Like a trainer in the era of Gunther Gebel Williams.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Martha
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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Whenever I read a story about using genetic technology to "bring back" extinct animals...particularly the mammoth (as if we don't have a tough enough time managing elephants...) I think "Bring back Martha instead." It's not out of the question that viable genetic material can be had for the pigeons.
Actually Martha is an example of a species that probably couldn't be saved by captive management anyway. The pigeon lived in vast populations of tens of thousands of birds and breeding behaviors were in part triggered by the close proximity of many other pigeons. Tough going with only a handful of animals. In the mid-1990's the last Dusky Seaside Sparrow died at the Teaching Zoo at Santa Fe College in Gainesville,FL. They searched foryears for a mate. Seeing an animal and knowing that it's the last of its kind is bittersweet.
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