Ohio inventions and firsts · Achievement · 1914
Martha, the last passenger pigeon, dies at the Cincinnati Zoo
Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914 and was sent to the Smithsonian; she became a symbol of extinction.
At a glance
- Year
- 1914
- Company
- Cincinnati Zoo
- Place
- Cincinnati, Hamilton County ZIP 45220 · Cincinnati · Hamilton County
The story
Passenger pigeons once flew in flocks so large they were said to darken the sky. They were hunted heavily, and by the early 1900s only a few were left in captivity.
Martha was born around 1885, probably from birds kept by Professor Charles Otis Whitman at the University of Chicago for behavior research. The exact origin is disputed. In 1902 she was moved to the Cincinnati Zoo. By November 1907 she and two males were the only known survivors, and the zoo offered a reward of $1,000 to anyone who could find her a mate.
She died of old age on September 1, 1914, at about 28 or 29. She was frozen in a 300-pound block of ice and sent to the Smithsonian Institution, arriving September 4, 1914, where she was mounted.
Martha is a symbol of extinction.
Timeline
- 1885: Martha hatches, approximately. (Chicago, IL (probably)) source
- 1902: Martha is moved to the Cincinnati Zoo. (Cincinnati, OH) source
- 1907-11: Martha and two males are the only known passenger pigeons left; a $1,000 reward is offered for a mate. (Cincinnati, OH) source
- 1914-09-01: Martha dies at the zoo. (Cincinnati, OH) source
- 1914-09-04: Her body arrives at the Smithsonian. (Washington, D.C.) source
What it changed
- Martha was the last known passenger pigeon.
- A $1,000 reward in 1907 did not turn up a mate.
Why it matters
Symbol of extinction.
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.