Strands of Life

Recently I came across an article describing the possibility of reintroducing the Passenger Pigeon, an extinct species, through rebuilding species DNA characteristics. This is now doable, the questions still remains should we do it? Would this capability influence our concern for the protection of currently endangered species? Would we take a more cavalier approach to environmental issues? If we are to reintroduce the Passenger Pigeon to its former geographic distribution would there be sufficient healthy habitat to sustain the population? What are the expected strife between the current agro-system that places much value on monoculture production and the expected large flocks that are the natural behavior of this species? Is it enough to recreate a certain number of the species to display in various zoos? What is the ultimate goal? In order to regenerate a species habitat we will need to revisit our farming practices and arrive at a more sustainable and shared ecosystem management model. In the movie Jurassic Park the ultimate message was not to mess with nature, however humans have historically played a significant role in the shaping of our current environment. Are we capable of overcoming our greedy past and embrace a future where there is room for the survival of other creatures and the reintroduction of extinct ones? How do we choose which species are worth reintroducing and which ones we leave out? Tim Flannery, author of The Eternal Frontier goes as far as promoting the return of elephants, camels and large armadillos to North America. There is also the unknown element, those species invisible to us, that make up a great part of the life-sustaining processes, that live in soil and whose disappearance is undocumented. Granted the life evolution of our planet has created many levels of redundancy which has withstood in great part the anthropocentric wave of destruction but we are getting closer to the tipping point. In fact some believe we have reached it or surpassed it without noticing and all we can do now is react. The fact that we, as a species, are still reluctant to make any significant changes in our lifestyle and only take minute feel-good steps does not bode well for life as we know it.

The last Passenger Pigeon, Martha, died in 1914 and there is a group of us that want to commemorate the event with various activities. As an artist I am proposing a couple of works which I hope will get funded. Last year I visited the Smithsonian Natural History Archives to see their collection of Passenger Pigeon specimens. I wrote a nature journal page which was published in Illinois Audubon.

The goal of the collective commemoration works is to focus on the plight of endangered species in our time and to help stem the tide of extinction brought about by our human species. As we gain knowledge to recreate living creatures, a godlike power, may we find the humility to counteract the anthropocentric greed of the past.