What's the meaning of the "Will"?
The intention or the desire
How many species of plants and animals that are at risk at the present?
11000 species including over 180 mammals
How many pigeons were send to New York each year?
300.000
Where did the buffalos use to live and what's the name of the place now?
They used to live in the continent's central flatlands.
Now called the Great Plains
Why were the settlers killing buffalos?
They were an obstacle to settlers' desire to grow crops and raise cattle.
What's the meaning of irreversible?
can't be undone
What do you understand by stories of huge flocks of pigeons that darkened the sky for hours as they flew south for winter.
There used to be huge amounts of pigeons in the past
Where and when did the last surviving pigeon die?
In the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914
What adjectives were used to describe the buffalos?
strange -looking
magnificent
furry
distinctive
How many buffalos remained by the end of the 1800s?
only 750
What's the meaning of habitat?
The place where animals live
Why were the passenger pigeons killed?
for sport, food , and for making feather beds
Why did the attempts to rescue the pigeons fail?
- A female pigeon lays only one egg a year.
- They lost their habitat
- The attempts started late
- They were killed in huge numbers
How important were the buffalos for the native Americans living on the plains?
They were an important resource for food, clothing, and shelter
What was the buffalo considered to the west?
It was a symbol of the west.
What's the meaning of dramatic shift?
great change
What was the approximate number of the passenger pigeons?
about five billion
How many buffalos were there before the European settlers came to North America?
More than 50 million.
Explain this " they played an enormous part in the plains ecosystem, sustaining other animals and plants.
Weaker buffalos were prey for predators like bears and wolves. Birds used to pick at buffalo fur for insects. And buffalos used to prevent aggressive plants from taking over
When did the efforts to save the buffalo begin and did they succeed?
They began in 1905.
Yes, they did.
What's the meaning of dismal failure?
huge failure
What happened by the mid - 1800s to the pigeons?
Their hunting became a large scale commercial enterprise supplying east cost cities with steady supply of birds.
What's the meaning of roaming?
Moving about or traveling aimlessly
How were the buffalos important for the ecosystem?
By sustaining other animals and plants
Why did they succeed in saving the buffalo from extinction?
Because the attempts started early.