Why has the passenger pigeon become extinct?
First they were excommunicated, and and then multiple causes played a role: – commercialized as a cheap food, – loss of habitat (deforestation) – possibly Newcastle disease “During the 19th century, the species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world to extinction. At the time, passenger pigeons had one of the largest groups or flocks of any animal, second only to the desert locust. They became such a threat to farmers that in 1703 the Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec formally excommunicated the species. Some reduction in numbers occurred as a result of loss of habitat when the Europeans started settling further inland. The primary factor emerged when pigeon meat was commercialized as a cheap food for slaves and the poor in the 19th century, resulting in hunting on a massive scale. There was a slow decline in their numbers between about 1800 and 1870, followed by a catastrophic decline between 1870 and 1890. “Martha”, thought to be the world’s last passenger pigeon,
