there probably were hundreds of passenger pigeons left when they started trying to save them. But they relied on communal nesting & breeding, and the few left were not enough to repopulate the species.
They used to travel in flocks of millions, that would darken the sky for hours when they flew over. People didn't figure out the necessity of such high numbers until there weren't enough left. (And, I suspect 2 solid hours of raining bird shit made it hard to feel sympathetic.)
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timeasmymeasure
actually
Date: 2010-04-25 06:16 pm (UTC)They used to travel in flocks of millions, that would darken the sky for hours when they flew over. People didn't figure out the necessity of such high numbers until there weren't enough left. (And, I suspect 2 solid hours of raining bird shit made it hard to feel sympathetic.)