[Tweeters] BBC WILDLIFE MAGAZINE: Back from the dead: Scientists plot to resurrect the passenger pigeon - but should we really bring it back just because we can?

[HAL MICHAEL via Tweeters]

While I would like to see us be able to actually "recreate" extinct taxa there needs to be a lot of thought given.  Would the eastern half of North America be able to host the massive flocks?  Not only does the food producing habitat likely no longer exist but could we allow a flock to fly over Chicago (say) for a day, disrupting all those flights?
 
My understanding of Passenger Pigeon biology was that the required large breeding populations (one egg at a time) to buffer from all the losses.  So if we wanted wild pigeons we would need those massive numbers.  
 
Hal Michael
Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net
 
 


> On 10/28/2024 7:22 AM PDT Louise via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>  

>  

> Interesting article, Dan. It certainly raises a lot of questions and I can't see that fruit farmers would be pleased if passenger pigeons were restored to anything like their former numbers. But restoring species like beavers and wolves to their former habitats has proven their beneficial effects on the landscape were more dramatic than we ever thought, so maybe we should try it and see how far we can get.

>  

> Louise Rutter

> Kirkland

> 

> On Sun, Oct 27, 2024 at 11:05 PM Dan Reiff via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu mailto:tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> 

> > 

> > Back from the dead: Scientists plot to resurrect the passenger pigeon - but should we really bring it back just because we can?

> > Can we - and should we - bring passenger pigeons back? Helen Pilcher investigates

> > 

> > Read in BBC Wildlife Magazine: https://apple.news/A94ir0ZHRR62T51b3Y6i6Kg

> > 

> > 

> > Shared from Apple News https://www.apple.com/news

> > 

> > 

> > Sent from my iPhone

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