The essential emptying of two continents created a major imbalance in the food web and altered the very landscape. The massive reduction in human population had serious ramifications for other native species, in ways that are still emerging today. Beyond violent clashes in battle, the headiest violence to affect Native Americans was foreign disease, resulting in the decimation of various tribes throughout North and South America through epidemics of European illnesses. It has been widely accepted for centuries that the initial European contact in the 1500s had a profound impact on the native populations of the New World. Evidence collected over the past few years from a significant number of Native American archeological sites is beginning to upset long-accepted beliefs about one of the most famous extinct species in modern history. In light of new findings however, this image of a naturally plentiful species laid to waste by man is now being tested. Once abundant, the bird experienced a rapid decline in the late 1800s, due almost entirely to rampant hunting, and the last passenger pigeon died in 1914.
Traditionally, the passenger pigeon has been held as one of the more beloved animal species to fall prey to humankind’s often relentless expansion into and disregard for the natural world and its creatures. Demise of passenger pigeon may be linked to rise of Lyme diseaseÄemise of passenger pigeon linked to Lyme disease