Human Actions Made 68% Flightless Bird Species Extinct, Claims Study
Human action has been blamed for being one of the biggest causes for the demise of multiple species on Earth, with help from climate change and the destruction of ecosystems.?
Now, a new study reveals the true impact of human activity on bird species on Earth.Between the last 20,000-50,000 years, multiple bird species have undergone a major extinction event primarily caused by human beings.?
10-20% of all bird species now extinct
The study, undertaken by scientists at Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute claims that human activity is responsible for the disappearance of 10-20 per cent of all bird species.Most species that disappeared shared a few characteristics: they were mostly large, inhabited islands and were flightless.?
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Led by Professor Shai Meiri from Tel Aviv University along with Amir Fromm from Weizmann Institute of Science, the study was published in the Journal of Biogeography.Meiri told SciTechDaily that human activity has led to the extinction of 469 bird species, and that the real number is much higher.?
What did humans do??
Researchers believe that humans caused mass extinction by hunting these bird species for food, or by animals that were brought to islands and fed on birds and their eggs, effectively causing the demise of a species.This isn't hyperbole. There is proof for both the assumptions.?
First, most bird remains were discovered on human sites and belonged to birds consumed for food. Secondly, the extinction process began a short while after humans arrived on a particular island.Humans introduced animals like rats, monkeys, cats, pigs that may have hunted these non-flying birds.?
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Owing to the size of the birds, they became preferred targets for humans to hunt and eat. This led to their populations quickly dying off.The bigger the species, the more likely they are to have been reported extinct, at least that's what the researchers claim.?
The extinct species were at least 10 times bigger than those that survived.To paint a bigger picture, 68 per cent of all flightless bird species known to science are now extinct - all due to reckless human activity.??
Do humans need to be restricted in terms of where they choose to hunt to protect birds? Let us know in the comments and don't forget to keep reading Indiatimes.com for the latest technology news and science updates.
