This means that it took less than 100 years for these birds to go extinct. People tried to reestablish the birds and find any trace of them in the wild as early as 1909, but without hope, and the last one died in captivity in 1914. There were so many that they could darken the sky for hours, as some of the first settlers mentioned in their writings. These pigeons were thought to make up around 40 percent of the total population of birds in the United States area, with well over 3 billion of the birds when Europeans first came to America. Passenger PigeonĪnyone that knows anything about wildlife has probably heard about the passenger pigeon. Diseases and the introduction of honeybees that destroyed their nests were the final blows that killed off the species for good. Like many other animals, they were also considered pests by farmers trying to clear out space for their animals and plants. They had mixes of green, yellow, and red that could easily brighten up an outfit. They also had a habit of returning right away to where their flock was when they were killed, which allowed them to be picked off in larger numbers.įeathers were a colorful adornment for women at the time, and no feathers in the country were as bright as those of the Carolina Parakeet. Reports stated that these parakeets were calm and tolerant, making them easy to rip right off a tree and kill. However, they were rapidly killed off, and the last one died in captivity in 1918. North America used to have its own species of parrots. Many farmers said that the bears would attack their cows, but based on what we know now, they likely stayed away from human settlements as much as possible. However, they were still extinct by 1969 as they were considered pests by many attempting to settle in the area. Work was done to try and rescue them by calling the bears a protected species. They often ate small animals and bugs, with reports that ants were their favorites. Locals called them oso plateado, which meant “silvery bear” due to their unique coloring. They were a little smaller than the grizzly bears you would see today and had a unique silvery coat more than brown. Mexican grizzly bears wandered from Mexico to what is now the southern United States. Let’s take a look at some of the animals that are now missing from the United States. It can be hard to put into perspective just how much has changed in so little time.īut did you know that in just the short time since European settlers came to the United States and made it the country it is today, dozens of animals have gone extinct? In fact, the extinction rate was so high from the 1600s to the 1900s that this time period is often called “The Second Great American Extinction Event.” We hear about the thousands of species that have gone extinct since the dawn of time, from dinosaurs to cute little mammals on far-away islands.
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