Actually my understanding is that they were pushed to the brink, not for sport, but as part of a concerted effort by the U.S. government to remove the food supply needed by migratory Indian tribes who followed the buffalo. The goal was to force the Indians onto reservations.
That is true. There were other motives. Some buffalo were shot by commercial hunters, who sold the skins. But many were shot by people riding on passing trains in the new transcontinental railroad. They were shot just for the fun of it, and left to rot. I suspect people would have done this even if they had not been encouraged by the government.
The carrier pigeon is a better example. They were driven into extinction simply because they were easy to hunt.
The Galapagos turtle and some penguins and arctic seals have no fear of humans, because they have not been exposed to predators. You can walk up to one and kill it. They were nearly hunted into extinction before laws were passed preserving them, because, as I said, we have no natural "brake" on our predatory instincts. In any era before the 20th century they would have been destroyed very quickly.
We can pass laws and restrain our natural behavior because we are a domesticated species. Instincts can be curbed -- but never completely quenched. You can train a domesticated dog not to kill small animals, or not to eat the game it retrieves. You can even train a cat not to kill birds or mice, but this is more difficult because cats are less domesticated than dogs (because they are not pack hunters). Any instinct can be quenched in a domesticated animal. The most extreme example is that people can actually overrule the instinct for self-preservation. You can train a person to go into battle and commit suicide in a kamikaze attack. That is astounding, and horrifying. Domestication is not entirely a good thing.
- Jed
