AMERICA’S WILDLIFEYESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

Wildlife at the Brink

The New World provided an abundance of natural

resources.

TREES

FIELDS

WILDLIFE

In England, hunting was a privilege reserved for royalty and landowners.

BEAVER

WOLVERINE

FISHER

MARTENFor some animals,

the fur was profitable to sell

Beaver hides were a measure of wealth.

Hunters and settlers moved west, altering the

land as they went.

Game animals became scarce.

The “Transcontinental Railroad” provided easier access to western lands.

A lack of laws meant hunters were free to take whatever they

could shoot or trap.

Market hunting for fur and feathers became

profitable.

Market hunting was one factor that led to the near extinction of bison.

Killed by “professional” white hunters in 1872, 1873, and 1874   3,158,730

Killed by Indians, same period 390,000

Killed by settlers and mountain Indians 150,000

Total slaughter in three years 3,698,730

*From The Extermination of the American Bison by William T. Hornaday

Year.

Hides shipped

byA., T. and

S. F.railway.

Hides shipped by

other roads, same

period (estimated).

Total number

of buffaloesutilized

Total number

killed andwasted.

Total of buffaloes

slaughteredby whites.

1872 165,721 331,442 497,163 994,326 1,491,489

1873 251,443 502,886 754,329 754,329 1,508,658

1874 42,289 84,578 126,867 31,716 158,583

Total 459,453 918,9061,378,35

91,780,48

1 3,158,730

The Slaughter of the Southern Herd*

Bison numbers were so low that hunting them was no longer profitable.

But bison weren’t alone. Deer, elk, wolf, turkey, and more were drastically declining.

Habitat loss, market hunting, and predator control were making their impact.

Waterfowl, such as ducks and geese, may

have been hit the hardest.

Improved gun technology increased hunting efficiency.

The “Sunday Gun” – A deadly combination of concealable rifle and shotgun

Lack of breeding locations forced large numbers of birds to small areas.

As long as the market existed, the slaughter would continue.

Dead Birds Found In One Cold Storage House In New York In 1902

Snow Buntings 8,058 Grouse 7,560

Sandpipers 7,607 Quail 4,385

Plover 5,218 Ducks 1,756

Snipe 7,003 Bobolinks 288

Yellow-legs 788 Woodcock 96

1600 HUMMINGBIRD SKINS MISCELLANEOUS BIRD SKINS

By the early 1900s, many animal species were already or nearly extinct, largely due

to market hunting.

Great Auk (1852)Cause of extinction: Killed for

food and oil.

Carolina Parakeet (1918)Cause of extinction: Killed for feathers, killed as pests, and

loss of habitat.

Passenger Pigeon (1914)Cause of extinction: Killed for

food, and loss of habitat.

“Right at our very door, under our very noses and as it were only yesterday, a well-defined species of American elk has

been totally exterminated.” – William T. Hornaday

.

“As civilization marches ever onward, over the prairies, into the bad lands and the forests, over the mountains and even into the farthest corner of Death Valley, the desert of deserts, the struggle of the wild birds, mammals and fishes is daily and hourly intensified. Man must help them to maintain themselves, or accept a lifeless continent.”

– William T. Hornaday

“If the American People as a whole elect that our wild life shall be saved, and to a reasonable extent brought back, then by the Eternal it will be saved and brought back! The road lies straight before us, and the going is easy—if the Mass makes up its mind to act.

– William T. Hornaday

The sportsman alone never will save the game! The people who do not kill must act, independently.”

To Be Continued…