On September 1, 1914, the last living specimen of the Living Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) died at the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States. This once abundant species was hunted mercilessly during the 19th century, until it disappeared from its natural habitats.
In 1810 the naturalist Alexander Wilson observed a side of these pigeons passing over him, which was one mile wide and 240 miles long, about 2000 million pigeons ...! The Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) was an abundant bird and the only native species of Psitaciformes, east of the Mississippi. In the 19th century it was suspected that it harmed certain crops, and it was also hunted until its extinction; The last living specimen also died at the Cincinnati Zoo on February 21, 1918.
The iconic Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) today, most likely extinct in the United States, has also been the target of excessive hunts but, perhaps this time, from collectors of similar museums and institutions. The custom hunters, Arthur Wayne and William Brewster, hunted between 1892-1894 44 specimens and removed this species from this area - north of the state of Florida. Thus we could list many species of birds that man has extinguished in one way or another.
The Anthropocene
The word Anthropocene derives from the Greek language and means Anthropo = man, = new. Baptized in 2000 by the Dutch chemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995, Paul J. Crutzen. According to this prominent man of science, it is in the current period of Earth's history that human activities have had a significant global impact on Earth's ecosystems. It is considered that it began at the end of the 18th century, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Other specialists have identified the Ancient Anthropocene when agriculture began, about 13,000 years ago. For many scientists the development of our industrial civilization has been a geological factor that has brought modifications and extinctions in many groups of animals and plants.
Within this new temporal definition there is another word: homogenocene, established by Sanways in 1999 and defined as “the translocation of fauna to foreign lands” or as it is also usually called “introduction of exotic species by man”, “invasive species”. These actions, increased in recent decades, have contributed to the decline in biodiversity and have caused radical changes in natural ecosystems.
If we add the illegal hunting and trafficking of wild species, the modification or destruction of natural habitats and the increasing effects of climate change, it is not catastrophic to affirm that we are facing a 6th mass extinction, almost entirely caused by ourselves.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the current species extinction rate is between 100 and 1000 times higher than the natural average of evolution, and by the end of this century, 50% of known species could be extinct.
Islands and archipelagos
All these processes of extinction and vulnerability are enhanced in the islands and archipelagos, mainly due to their geographical characteristics and the composition and histories of their biota. They are particularly vulnerable because they have small populations in most species; many rare and exclusive species (endemism in relict populations); in the case of those located in tropical areas, mosaic structure of the landscape, with a large number of environments in small areas. For example: in the last 300 300 years 171 species and subspecies of birds have become extinct, 155 were insular forms.
The Antilles are considered one of the planet's hotspots, mainly because of the diversity, the high rates of endemism of their biota and the poor knowledge of their cryptic fauna; With a complex geological history, it comprises an area of 237,000 km², plus a great variety of ecosystems and habitats spread over 4000 keys, islets and islands, some of them like those that form the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico ), with notable heights of up to 3000 meters above sea level, which constitute the largest archipelago of the neotropic.
The Antilles are considered one of the planet's hotspots, mainly because of the diversity, the high rates of endemism of their biota and the poor knowledge of their cryptic fauna; With a complex geological history, it comprises an area of 237,000 km², plus a great variety of ecosystems and habitats spread over 4000 keys, islets and islands, some of them like those that form the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico ), with notable heights of up to 3000 meters above sea level, which constitute the largest archipelago of the neotropic.
In the Cuban Archipelago there are about 7,000 species of plants, of which 53% are endemic, with 25 extinct species and more than 3,000 with some degree of threat. In the case of wildlife, two red books (Vertebrates and Invertebrates) and a Red List of Vertebrates have already been published. The texts provide valuable information regarding threatened species and the degree of threat.
It is known about the extinction of some species of the macrofauna in modern times: the Cuban Macaw (Ara tricolor) in 1864; the Jabado Woodpecker from Cayo Largo in the mid-80's; the population of Cateyes in Isla de la Juventud in the early 80’s; the subspecies of Nightingale on Isla de la Juventud (Myadestes elizabeth retrusus). Almost extinct: the Royal Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), Gavilán Caguarero (Chondrohierax wilsonii), the Jutías of the San Felipe Keys (Mesocapromys sanfelipensis), the Dwarf Jutia of the Zapata Marsh (Mesocapromys nanus). The populations of the Mockingbird (Mimus gumdlachii), the Vireo of Bahamas (Vireo crassirostris) and the subspecies of Cabrerito de la Ciénaga (Torreornis inexpectata) along the Sabana-Camagüey Cayeries are threatened. In addition, the decline in populations of several of our day and night raptors, due to illegal hunting.
If we add the exponential explosion of illegal hunting in recent years through the use of trap cages and other devices (such as fog nets) of several of the migratory birds that visit us: Azulejos, Azulejones, Mariposas, Degollados, and some of the birds that nest and remain in Cuba: Negrito, Tomeguines del Pinar y la Tierra, Cabrero, Cateyes and Cotorras. The magnitude of the problem, in the case of wildlife is very serious, because if we add the imported obscurantist ceremonies of using (sacrificing) some of our most threatened animals in certain syncretic religious practices such as Majaes, Jubos, Frogs, Toads and Some of our exclusive Chipojos. The matter becomes almost catastrophic for our already impoverished fauna.
What to do? In my opinion, reinforce the application of Cuban environmental laws, start a strong campaign of environmental education at national level, involving all related institutions in this urgent task. Otherwise, we will have in a few years an impoverished diversity, constituted with the survivors (mostly exotic species), which will be the inevitable result of all our mistakes, disorders and ignorance.
Fundacion Ariguanabo
