Studies: Interest in Hunting Fading

From the earliest times, hunters have caused the extinction of species. From the Stone Age up to the 18th century, mainly large animals were hunted to extinction. But with the invention of guns, hunters targeted smaller animals and birds. This accelerated the rate of extinction, especially of birds.

Today, in theory, hunting is regulated in most countries, however, it remains a major threat to the survival of many birds and animals. Commercial hunting for ivory, skins, and other products continues to cause the extinction of species. In the 21st century, scientists predict that plant species, such as rare orchids and cacti, will become endangered from hunting and collecting.

"What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected." -- Chief Seattle, Suquamish chief, 1854.

The eloquent words of Chief Seattle echo today throughout the Everglades and Biscayne Bay, where rising human populations impact the native wildlife. Threatened species have low or declining population numbers and if not protected may become endangered. Endangered species are in immediate threat of extinction. Although listed as endangered, the future of these animals is not without hope. The National Park Service has joined with federal, state, and private agencies to form groups active in the preservation of these animals. For more information about preservation programs and how you can help, see Preserving the Parks. The following six animals are endangered species found in the Everglades and Biscayne Bay.

American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)
Shy and secretive, the crocodile is found only in estuaries in southernmost Florida. It can be distinguished from its cousin, the alligator, by its tapered snout and light color. Habitat loss has reduced the crocodile population to a few hundred, with only a dozen active breeding nests identified.

Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus)
This gentle marine mammal is the largest animal in the parks, growing to about 13 feet in length and weighing up to 2,000 pounds. Herbivorous manatees can eat 10 to 15 percent of their body weight daily in aquatic plants. Loss of habitat and boat collisions have reduced the manatee population to 1,200.

Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi)
The only panther thought to be remaining in the eastern United States, the Florida panther was hunted almost to extinction. Protected from hunting by state law since 1966, this graceful cat is now endangered by shrinking habitat and highway traffic. Only 30 panthers are thought to still survive.

Schaus swallowtail (Heraclides aristodemus)
This brightly colored, yellow-and-brown butterfly is found only in the hardwood hammocks of the upper Florida Keys. It may become extinct due to the destruction of its habitat by development.

Sea turtles (Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae sp.)
The Atlantic green turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas), Atlantic hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata imbricata), Atlantic loggerhead (Caretta caretta caretta), Atlantic ridley (Lepidochelys kempi), and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) live in subtropical oceans. Four of these species are endangered and one is threatened due to their being killed for meat and shells, overharvesting of their eggs, and loss of nesting habitat.

Snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus)
A singular appetite for snails distinguishes this bird of prey. Eating only apple snails, the kite uses its sharply hooked beak to pry the snail from its shell. Due to loss of habitat, the snail kite is one of the rarest birds in America. Several hundred are believed to exist in Florida.

When the Europeans came to North America, they carried out practices that were devastating for animal life on the continent.

Previous Indian populations inhabiting North America often hunted animals which later became extinct. However, the limited hunting by the Indians usually did not kill enough of the animals to outweigh the population increases resulting from natural replacement.

Before the Europeans came, between 40-60 million bison lived in North America. As European traders began to hunt heavily for meat and later hides, the bison population dwindled. Now, only a small number of herds remain.

As many as 5 billion passenger pigeons once lived in North America. The Indians and early colonial settlers hunted the pigeons, but not until the late nineteenth century did massive commercial hunting severely reduce the population. The last passenger pigeon died in 1914.

Unregulated hunting has at various times threatened the existence of some game animals. Prime examples of this occurred in the United States in the 19th century, when egrets were decimated for their plumes, used in millinery. Buffalo herds (see Bison) that once numbered in the millions were also virtually wiped out by hunters intent on profit and enjoyment; by 1895 only 400 buffalo remained in the country. Hunters took their toll on other wildlife as well. Pronghorn, deer, and mountain sheep were decimated to feed the growing population in the West. In the East, waterfowl populations plummeted as hunters armed with cannonlike guns wiped out entire flocks in one shot and then shipped the birds to restaurants to satisfy exotic tastes. Some game birds, such as the passenger pigeon and the heath hen, were hunted into extinction by people who believed the game supply to be infinite.

Wolves once roamed almost the entire world north of the equator. This is no longer the case. In North America, gray wolves, also called timber wolves, have been hunted near to extinction in the United States with the exception of Alaska and small populations in Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is still a healthy population in Canada, but only unconfirmed remnant populations are thought to exist today in Mexico. Gray wolves are currently reintroducing themselves naturally in the northern Rocky Mountains and North Cascades. Human efforts over the last few years to reintroduce wolves into the Rocky Mountains have also been successful. In March 1998, 11 Mexican gray wolves were released in eastern Arizona. The range of these wolves once extended from southwest United States to central Mexico.

Extinction by Hunting
Though hunting is now fairly well regulated by law, historically it was a chief cause of extinction in Southern Appalachia. The first to go were the large mammals. When Europeans first settled here in the late eighteenth century, for example, woodland bison were still plentiful. But hunters quickly learned to ambush them at natural salt licks, where the bison congregated. By 1800 they had become rare. Within a decade or two they were extinct.

Eastern elk, too, once inhabited the forests of Southern Appalachia. Like the woodland bison, the elk sought the salt licks, and, like the bison, there they were relentlessly slaughtered. They were extinct by the start of the Civil War. Elk recently reintroduced to the Smokies are not eastern elk but a non-native variety.

The Southern Appalachians were originally home to two kinds of wolves: the red and the gray. Both were hunters of deer, bison, and elk. As the settlers eliminated their prey, they turned increasingly to farm animals. The result was an escalating war of extermination that lasted until about 1920 when, somewhere deep in the Smokies, the last wolf cry was silenced.

Though driven from the East and in constant retreat, gray wolves maintained substantial refuges away west in the Rockies, in Alaska, and in Canada. But the smaller red wolf, whose range never extended beyond the Southeast, was hunted almost to extinction. By the mid 1970s, there were maybe a hundred red wolves left in the world, mostly in Louisiana and Texas. Many of these could not find mates and had begun breeding with common coyotes, so that the strain was rapidly disappearing. During the 1990s attempts were made to reintroduce red wolves into the Smokies, but some of the wolves wandered repeatedly out of the Park; some succumbed to parvo virus, probably caught from coyotes whose range had expanded to fill the niche left by the wolves; and some lapped up puddles of sweet-tasting antifreeze from parking lots and died in agony as ethylene glycol crystallized in their kidneys. As a result, reintroduction efforts were suspended, and the Smokies are once again empty of wolves.

Nobody knows when (or even if) the eastern cougar disappeared from the Southern Appalachians. Wary hunters, they were themselves hunted mercilessly for over two centuries. Sightings are still sometimes reported, but wildlife officials believe that if there are any big cats here they are released or escaped western cougars, not the native eastern variety.