The most populous bird ever lived was the Passenger Pigeon. It is said that a flock of millions of birds would darken the skies for days. They were shot in their millions some were eaten, some were left to rot in pickling barrels. Most, millions were shot for fun. The last bird died in a zoo before I was born.
But there is hope the Rothschild’s Mynah was devastated in its only Island habitat for two reasons. The wealthy residents evidenced their wealth by hanging a cage outside their homes with a single resident Bali Mynah (their other name). Their beauty is astounding – pure white with pale blue facial skin and black bars on wings and tails. The pet trade soon engulfed thousands. Today they are all but extinct. Zoological institutions have bred nearly 400 around the world and soon when proper reserves are safe guarded they will be released back in their homelands of Bali.
The American and Canadian prairies were the home of tens of millions of Bison, wrongly called Buffalo in the Wild West. These creatures had roamed, quite unaffected by the relative few killed by the endemic peoples who used every part, meat, skins, sinews and bones. Then came civilised man. The Bison were shot up for fun. They were shot to feed workers as the railways were built and they were shot up in their millions by employees of the canning factories. Unbelievably, only the tongues were canned. The carcases were left to rot. Inevitably the Bison was on the brink of extinction, only the careful administration of committed conservationists and government’s recovered numbers just in time.
In Britain, birds of prey were shot up by game keepers and were the victims of egg collectors. As if that was not enough the few left were decimated by chemicals used on the land which softened the egg shells so that they failed to breed.
Finally the chemicals were banned. The conservationists’ warnings were heeded but not universally. When my wife Cherry and I were born there were just 3 Red Kites in Wales. Now we have watched as many as 800 all feeding at a feeding site arranged and supported by the RSPB.
Peregrine Falcons were so rare that they were virtually never seen. Now they nest in our great cities like London and Bristol. There are numerous examples of where things have gone wrong but we are putting them right slowly.