Passenger Pigeon-100 years of extinction

[Catherine]

It has been a hundred years since humans drove the passenger pigeon to extinction.
Sadly the last bird, Martha, ended her days alone at Cincinnati Zoo one hundred years ago. The Zoo has a memorial to her and her species. It is also is commemorating the loss.





In some ways the loss of the passenger pigeon made people aware and saved other species that were close to extinction. It triggered the movement to save endangered species.

So sad as Martha's death was, since it was actually the death of a whole species, it was not for nothing. Her death saved other species. So Martha is gone, but not forgotten.