Extinct!!

Extinction is a phenomenon that results in nothingness. It is the end of existence. Imagine a world where you will not see a cat or dog ever again. Imagine a world where you will not see another human being ever again. Sounds unimaginable? It isn’t, there have been animals that were as ubiquitous as the cat, dog or even the human being that are extinct today. Some of them are not there with us due to natural calamities (Ice Age) and most of them are not there with us due to a different kind of calamity (Man). Not only does this deprive the world of some of its most interesting citizens, but also batters the ecosystem. Since all the animals are linked to each other, the extinction of one type of animal has invariably led to the extinction of another type. If there is no prey, what does the predator eat? The animal at the top of the food chain is man and if there is no prey and vegetation left, how will man prevent himself from getting extinct?

DODO
The most poignant symbol of the word extinction is undoubtedly the dodo. It is said that the dodo was the progeny of the pigeon. When pigeons settled on an island in the Indian Ocean called Mauritius, the abundance of food meant that they were here to stay. But the easy availability of food and absence of any kind of predator also meant that they did not have to fly to procure it. As a result every future generation of the bird started to develop wings that were weaker than the previous generation. This happened, till there was a time when the bird stopped growing wings all together. Thus evolved the dodo, a 14 kg bird, that could not fly, could not defend itself, and had only one home – Mauritius.

It was somewhere in the 16th century that Dutch sailors came upon this island. It was a perfect stopover point for them. The sailors brought along with them, pigs, goats, cats, rats, and monkeys. These animals not only competed with the dodos for food but also began eating the dodo’s themselves. The sailors too found the dodo easy to catch and easier to eat. They named it dodo because the word "dodo" means simpleton in Portuguese. The sailors also cleared the forest and laid foundations of settlements there. All these factors meant that by the late 17th century, less than a hundred years after the dodo was first sighted it was extinct.

DIRE WOLF
The Dire wolf is one such animal, whose extinction is due to a natural calamity. The wolf was unable to survive the Ice Age because of a peculiar reason. It did not have anything to eat. The Ice Age wiped out all its prey. It was found predominantly in the area that today constitutes North America. It was slightly smaller than the modern wolf but less agile. But its teeth are much larger and it had a very strong jawbone. It was a scavenger by nature and its prey included horse, bison, deer and sloth.

PASSENGER PIGEON
In1808, there was a flock of Passenger pigeons, which flew over Kentucky. It is estimated that this flock contained approximately 2 billion birds. Yes, 2 billion that is 1/3rd of today’s world population. On September 1, 1914, the last Passenger pigeon died. The extinction of Passenger pigeons in such a short period of time is a tribute to Man’s destructive capabilities.

Passenger pigeons were so numerous that when they flew from their northern to the southern habitats, the sky would darken and they would stretch for a distance of up to 10 miles. Unfortunately they existed during a period when human expansion was the fastest (18th and 19th century) in a country where this expansion was most profound (The United States of America). In order to construct railroads huge numbers of chestnut and oak trees were cleared, these were the main source of food for the pigeons. When the railroad was constructed they were hunted down and easily transported to markets in the city. They also were a source of food for men and their pets in the rural areas. All these factors contributed to the stunning eradication of this species.