Melondy Phillips
Staff Writer
Plants are not the only biological kingdom indanger.
In dairy farming, agdaily.com reported that nearly 90 percent of dairy cows are Holstein because they produce a greater volume of milk compared to other breeds. Holsteins are cross-bred from Friesian white cows and Batavian black cows and made their journey to the new world in 1852. According to the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, the second most common dairy cow, at nine percent of the total, is the Jersey. Jersey cows are known for their high butterfat content. Records dating back to the 1740s show Jersey as an old bred. With nearly 99 percent of all dairy cows restricted to only two breeds, that leaves only a smidgen of the total to includes the other five major dairy breeds.
On the pork scene, the few hundred Choctaw hogs remaining in existence are labeled critically rare and are being raised by only a handful of families. This is, in part, due to focus on breeding standardized and mass-produced “commercialized” hogs. When the preference for one breed falls too low and the demand for another is high, there is not much incentive for producers to continue breeding the less desirable animals.
Buckeye chickens are the only U.S. breed known to have been developed by a woman. As of 2022, Buckeye chickens, once listed as critically endangered, are making a comeback. One study shows about 10,000 of these birds in existence, which has led to them being upgraded to threatened status.
These beautiful mahogany birds are raised for pets as well as for the standard meat and eggs. They are also exceptionally tolerate of the cold, they’re docile, and have a low aggression level towards others in the flock. While many other breeds of chickens reduce or completely stop laying eggs in the winter, Buckeye chickens continue laying throughout the cold months. They also don’t skimp on the delicious meat they have, unlike other dual-purpose birds. These birds are excellent foragers and “cat level” mousers. The interesting range of sounds they produce are distinct among the breed, including dinosaur-like roars which they like sharing with everyone. Because of all the great features wrapped into one package, Buckeye chickens are said to be the “best homestead bird in the entire world,” thefeatherbrain.com
Nearly 200 endangered, or heritage, animal breeds are listed on the annually updated priority list by The Livestock Conservancy. This organization also offers husbandry training for new farmers to help ensure strong and healthy offspring of rare livestock animals. Although there were 62 animal breeds added to the extinction list in the early 2000s, according to UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, The Livestock Conservancy hasn’t had any breeds on their list go extinct.
Animals like the thylacine, the quagga, the gastric-brooding frog, Carolina parakeet (the only parrot native to the U.S.), and the Passenger pigeon may only be memories from the past.
But are they?
CNN.com commented on the following reported sightings of the thylacine (known as the Tasmanian tiger): “One report last February said that two people, visiting Tasmania from Australia, were driving when an animal with a stiff tail and striped back walked onto the road. The animal “turned and looked at the vehicle a couple of times” and “was in clear view for 12-15 seconds,” the report read. Both people in the car “are 100 percent certain that the animal they saw was a thylacine.”
Another report filed the same month described a striped “cat-like creature” moving through the mist in the distance.”
Could this once diminished species be making a comeback in the remote territories of Tasmania or is it truly extinct?
If an animal is the same “kind” then it can bring forth and create different species. This has been shown to be true by the Quagga Project. By testing and studying remnants of skin from the extinct quagga species, they found the genetics to be a sub-species of the plains zebra. Using selective breeding throughout four or five generations, the color and striping of this once extinct animal is becoming more pronounced. After 50 of these “Rau quaggas” have been bred, plans are to place them together in a reserve so they may develop their own ecological adaptations and behavioral differences.
As the only known U.S. native parakeet, the Carolina parakeet was first referenced as being seen in Florida in 1583. They were known to eat the toxic seeds of cockleburs. The parakeets were also thought to be poisonous since cats would die after eating them. These beautiful rainbow birds displayed a bright orange face transitioning into a bright yellow head flowing into greens, blues and indigo feathers alone the wings and body. The species disappeared so quickly that scientists are not even sure what caused it.
Not all plants and animals labeled “extinct” stay labeled as such.
I’ll cover that in the next edition.
