How did the Europeans effect the population of passenger pigeons in North America?
The species were driven to the brink of extinction during the 1800s by commerical hunting without regulations or consideration for the future of the bird. They were hunted until the flocks were scattered across North America, and the numbers of birds so small, that researchers believe the process needed to trigger breeding instincts were lost. So, the few birds left didn’t reproduce at a rate to build the population, and they became extinct, when the final bird died in capitivity in 1914. Her name was Martha, and she died in the Cincinnati Zoo.
