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Several species of animals have become extinct in the
20th century. Among them is the Carolina parakeet, the
only member of the parrot family that is native to the
United States. It has beautiful green, yellow and orange
feathers and was once found in the deciduous forests of
the East and the South. Animal hunters captured these
birds and sold them as caged pets to people all over the
world. There used to be many of them. However, settlers
later cleared the forests and planted fruit orchards and
fields of grain. The parakeets developed a love for the
apple and pear seeds as well as the corn, destroying the
crops before they could ripen. The farmers, whose
livelihood was threatened, killed them.
The task of killing the birds was quite easy. Over
the centuries, parakeets had come up with a unique
defence system against their predators. Whenever one of
them was wounded, the rest would gather around him until
the predator left. However, what was effective against
animal predators proved to be suicidal against man. The
farmers simply fired away at the gathering horde.
The number of parakeets decreased rapidly.
Perhaps, the last Carolina parakeet in the wild was a
female shot near Orlando, Florida, on 4 December 1913.
Before long, the only such birds left were an elderly
couple, Lady Jane and Incas, who were kept in the
Cincinnati Zoo for more than thirty years. Lady Jane
died in 1917. Incas mourned her death and died pinning
away a year later.
The body of Incas was supposed to be shipped to the
Smithsonian Institution for preservation and display.
Unfortunately, his body disappeared on the way there and
was never recovered. |
