Comments on: Extinct Parrot Found

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:42:19 +0000

A dire message, but unfortunately all too true. Species are dissappearing at an alarming rate, global warming is threatening whole ecosystems, introduced animals are wreaking havoc on established habitats, global fish stocks are becoming critically depleted. I often don’t think mankind fully realizes that it is also part of the ecosystem, that if one species dissappears it can have direct implications for mankind as a whole. I don’t think it is too late yet, though. I want to have hope. We can tip things in the other direction still. The main problem is that these kinds of stories are not seen as a direct threat when people are reading it in the newspaper over the morning coffee. I think the main reaction is “well, that’s too bad but what can I do?”. I think that in many ways, this kind of complacency is just as dangerous as active exploitation of the environment. A lot of people would really like to stop the destruction of the environment but they just don’t know what they can do and they don’t realize that their inaction is furthering the destruction. The one’s who exploit animal or plant species, who cut and burn forests, log illegally, and bioprospect would just love it if you finished that morning paper and didn’t do a thing. People need to realize there is a lot of little things that can be done. Write your congressman, get involved with nature programs on the weekends, put aside even one dollar a month to donate to a conservation fund. I hope things turn around in my lifetime. I really think we are interdependent on nature and the effects of what we do will have more consequences than we can know.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 15:28:46 +0000

Any settlement by force of arms in an area already inhabited by people constitutes the very definition of “Invasion.” As for civilization, it existed in Australia for perhaps as much as 70,000 years before Europeans forced their own peculiar and biased version of it upon the natives.

And for those who say that agriculture is the only basis for civilization, there is evidence of that there as well. If so, then by definition not only did the natives have civilization, they had the FIRST civilization in human history.

We’re here talking about the greedy and self-interested depredations mankind has wrought upon the animal kingdom, and yet there are still those that can’t even see that mankind has done the same to itself. Just as there are endangered and extinct species, so too are there endangered and extinct cultures and civilizations. ALL have value, ALL have something unique to contribute, and ALL are worth preserving. Further, ALL who remain are a little less with their passing. Sadly, like in nature, we have already lost so much, and are likely to lose much of what’s left, largely through a combination of greed, apathy, and ignorance.

The first 2 are hard to change, but the latter, well, that’s why I’m writing, and (HOPEFULLY), that’s why you’re reading. Thank you for your time.

By: youcantryreachingme

youcantryreachingme — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 04:35:18 +0000

Yes, it is very sad, and dare I say very Australian?

Although the article mentions this as the only mainland species of bird to become extinct post-colonisation (and I’m not sure there aren’t other north-Queensland parrots which have become extinct also) there are certainly others from non-mainland Australian islands:

The Robust white-eye (Zosterops strenuus), from Lord Howe Island (a part of New South Wales, technically, but very geographically isolated),

Norfolk Island Kaka (Nestor productus), from Norfolk Island,

White Gallinule (Porphyrio albus), from Lord Howe Island,

in all liklihood, the Kangaroo Island Emu, from Kangaroo Island (South Australia),

the Tasmanian emu from Tasmania

and in addition to all these extinctions, there are (as the article says) very many more species which are on the brink.

Let’s face it – a species must be missed for 50 years to be termed extinct, so quite possibly some additional species are already gone forever – but it won’t begin to dawn collectively on us for a couple of decades.

As I started… very sad. Please consider your bit to help end the destruction of old growth forests – not just in Australia, but globally. I know there are no easy answers and the problem isn’t simple, but can’t our own species rise to the occassion and make it happen?

By: YourPTR!

YourPTR! — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 04:08:51 +0000

When I saw the headline I too thought the article was about the rediscovery of this beautiful bird and was disapointed when I read it was not! Still, only one bird species becoming extinct is a much better record than in nearby New Zealand! Btw the Europeans didn’t “invade” Australia they brought civilization to the continent. Australia wouldn’t be the country it is today without them!

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 01:29:46 +0000

How very sad. I hoped that this article was about a rediscovery of a living bird. Maybe they will resurface alive somewhere.