1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Hello and Happy Saturday. This week's episode on Marjorie Courtney 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: Latimer and the selacanth kept making me think about one 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: of our previous episodes, and that was the one on 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: the extinction of the Stephens Island wren. These are really 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: very different stories, but they both have islands and extinct 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: animal species and specimen collection and the impact of outdoor 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: cats on an ecosystem. So it is today's Saturday classic. 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 1: This episode originally came out on June fourteenth, twenty seventeen. 9 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello and Welcome to the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: Holly Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Hey, Tracy, have 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: you ever heard of a cat named Tibbles who was 13 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: single handedly responsible? Powedly? You'll sometimes see it written out 14 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: for wiping out an entire species of bird yep, because 15 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: of a lighthouse keeper. Yeah. It shows up on various 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: listicles from time to time along the lines You'll see 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: like ex animals who changed History. It's one of the 18 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: most famous extinction stories, and because it has this quaint, 19 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: though sad aspect to it, it has really taken on 20 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: a life of its own, and it's one that gets 21 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: repeated a lot, but the real story is actually a 22 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: lot more complex than simply saying one cat killed all 23 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: the birds. So today we're going to take a look 24 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: at the original tale as it's usually told, and then 25 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: we'll delve into the reality of the demise of the 26 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: bird species involved. Because the bird did legitimately go extinct, 27 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: that part is true, and it also becomes an interesting 28 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: story of conservation and the importance of protecting both flora 29 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: and fauna unique to specific and isolated locations. And there's 30 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: even a little bit of scientific community intrigue and offense 31 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: in the mix. So it's got everything for a good story. Also, 32 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: because this does involve extinction and then lay ways to 33 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: try to combat similar problems, there's that's pretty much a 34 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: whole episode where we talk about animals being killed. So 35 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: if that is something particularly sensitive to you, this might 36 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: not be your episode. I will say this, I am 37 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: usually particularly sensitive to it. It does not bother me 38 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: in this context, So I don't know if that's your 39 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: guidepost or not, but there you go. Well, and having 40 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: had an outdoor cat from like nineteen eighty until approximately 41 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six a long time. But anyway, I grew 42 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 1: up with an outdoor cat because we lived out in 43 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: the country and that was what you did. Yeah, you've 44 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: become accustomed to cats bringing you thing. Yeah, cats bringing 45 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: us small animals was something that happened all time. So yeah, yeah, 46 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: we had that growing up, and it is one of 47 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:53,279 Speaker 1: the reasons my small herd never goes outside. Yeah. Yeah, 48 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: my cats. Once I was an adult and caring for 49 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: my own cats were strictly indoor, although a couple of 50 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: them did escape on at least one occasion. Yeah. Yeah. 51 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: But today we're going to talk about the Stephen's Island 52 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: wren and this cat and what did and did not happen. 53 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: The particular wren in this story was a tiny bird. 54 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 1: It could fit in the palm of a human hand, 55 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: and it was found on Stephen's Island, which is a 56 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: New Zealand. It's likely that these wrens, known as Zencus 57 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 1: traversia leali in Latin and sometimes called lyle wrens, were 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,839 Speaker 1: possibly part of the fauna of ancient Gondwana land. They 59 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,839 Speaker 1: were related to the Kiwi. Fossil evidence suggests that these 60 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: tiny birds are ones that are incredibly closely related to them, 61 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: once lived throughout New Zealand, and it's believed that the 62 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: introduction of predatory species such as rats eliminated them from 63 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: all the other areas of the country but Stephen's Island, 64 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: which was isolated by the eighteen nineties. The birds were 65 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: dark olive brown in color, with yellowish coloring at the 66 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: throat and the breast. Skeletal evidence, as well as witness accounts, 67 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: indicate that the wren was flightless. It spent its time 68 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: on the ground hunting for insects to eat, and that 69 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: makes it one of only three known flightless songbirds in 70 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: the world. The wrens nested in small, out of the 71 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: way spots, such as holes and recesses under rocks, and 72 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: it was also believed to have been nocturnal. Yeah, I 73 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: read one account that said that it weighed about the 74 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: same as a quarter, but I didn't find anything that 75 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: backed that up. But even so, it's a very tiny, 76 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: light little thing, and sometimes you'll see it. When people 77 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: described it, they talked about it being almost more like 78 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 1: a mouse than a bird in some ways, probably because 79 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: it scurried along the ground. The island itself is also 80 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: known by its Maori name take pourdois and it is 81 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: a small place. It is less than a square mile. 82 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,239 Speaker 1: That's another one of those things that gets reported very differently. 83 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: Some we'll say it's only half a square mile, some 84 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: even less than that. But we know that it's less 85 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: than a square mile about one point five square kilometers estimate. 86 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: And it sits about two miles off of New Zealand's 87 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: South Island's northern shore, at the northern edge of the 88 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: Marlborough Sounds. And the weather on the island is mild 89 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: in temperatures, but there is frequent rain and often high winds. 90 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: It was renamed Stephens Island after Philip Stephens, the late 91 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: eighteenth century first Secretary to the Admiralty of the United Kingdom. 92 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: Prior to the eighteen seventies, it hadn't been explored by 93 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: any Anglo parties. It's unknown if any Maori people's visited 94 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: it prior to that, but it was a pristine place 95 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: in terms of its ecological condition when maritime officials from 96 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: New Zealand first visited it, and because the island sits 97 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: on a shipping route and there had been several shipwrecks 98 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: nearby in the middle of the century, it was outfitted 99 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: with an oiled powered lighthouse in eighteen ninety four. That 100 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: lighthouse stood at the highest elevation point above sea level 101 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: of any lighthouse in New Zealand at the time. It 102 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: was also more power full than any others in New 103 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: Zealand at that time, and it cost more than nine 104 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: thousand pounds to build. Before the lighthouse was installed to 105 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: illuminate the Cooks Strait's western approaches, Stephens Island was almost 106 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: entirely untouched. There were no non native species that had 107 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: been introduced. The flora was just a natural and unchecked 108 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: and undeveloped. Well into the eighteen hundreds, the tiny island 109 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: was pretty densely forested. When workers first arrived in eighteen 110 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: ninety two to start construction on the lighthouse, birds were abundant. 111 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: The journals of one of the men, Fw Ingram, are 112 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,719 Speaker 1: quoted in a two thousand and four paper about the 113 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 1: extinction of the wren. That paper was written by Ross 114 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: Galbreeze and Derek Brown, and according to Ingram's account, there 115 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: were two kinds of wren saddlebacks, native thrush and native 116 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: crows on the island when the work began. There After, 117 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: the lighthouse and a small farm were established. An estimated 118 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: ninety percent of the island's native forest was to destroyed 119 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: due to grazing and fire. A patchy low forest eventually 120 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: established and remains in the place of the thick forest 121 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: that had been destroyed, and shrubs, grasses, and vine lens 122 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: persisted also. So with this new fancy lighthouse, the island 123 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: needed a lighthouse keeper. So we are getting now into 124 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: the story as it's usually told. So in eighteen ninety four, 125 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: David Lyle moved to Stephen's Island to fill that position, 126 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: and the island was not easy to get to. Travelers 127 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: had to cross Cook straight by boat and then board 128 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: a basket that was attached to the station's crane, and 129 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: after that there was an uphill walk of about one 130 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty meters or one hundred and ninety six 131 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: yards to the lighthouse itself. This was a pretty extreme 132 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: solitary type position that you would accept. Lyle, his wife 133 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: and a son also brought along a cat named Tibbles 134 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: when they moved to Stephen's Island. The idea was that 135 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: Tibbles would keep the mice at bay and also be 136 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: a companion for this lonely outpost. They were not the 137 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: island's only residents actually, but we'll come back to that. 138 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: Of course, a good mouser such as Tibbles would also 139 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: probably be interested in going after small nocturnal birds as well, 140 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: especially since, as Holly said earlier, they've been described as 141 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: mouse like. But that was never the intention. They did 142 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: not on purpose bring a cat to kill birds. No, 143 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: and usually when you hear this story told, they really 144 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: only talk about David Lyle and Tibbles, and any family 145 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: is kind of left out. But so not long after 146 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: David and Tibbles and his family arrived on the island, 147 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: the cat started bringing fresh kills to her human Lyle 148 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: was interested in nature, and he was an amateur ornithologist, 149 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: and he had never seen a bird quite like the 150 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: ones that Tibbles was killing. So he examined them and 151 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: he skinned them as he did to you know, more 152 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: fully take account of what their body was like and 153 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: what these birds were. When a shit brought supplies to 154 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: the island on its regular bimonthly schedule, Lyle sent one 155 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: of his rin skins back on it, intending for it 156 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: to reach a well known ornithologist, Sir Walter Buller, it's 157 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: believed that he did receive this skin sometime in July 158 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four. Later on, Beller would write quote, there 159 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: is probably nothing so refreshing to the soul of a 160 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: naturalist as the discovery of a new species. You will 161 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: readily understand. Therefore, how pleased I was at receiving the 162 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: skin of a bird from stephen Island, which was entirely 163 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: distinct from anything hitherto known. Eventually, Lyle collected ten samples. 164 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: That number is going to shift around when we get 165 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: to the reality, but for the purposes of this story, 166 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: ten samples from Tibble's offering, and they were in good 167 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: condition because the cat seemed to be more interested in 168 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: killing the birds than she wasn't eating them. Feline behaviorists 169 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: might also suggest that she was bringing them to Lyle 170 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: as a means of offering him provisions showing she could 171 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: take care of him as well as herself. There are 172 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: also theories that cats do that to try to teach 173 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: us stupid humans how to find our own food. But 174 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: in any case, she was not eating them, so they 175 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: were in quite good condition. After he had been examining 176 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: these various specimens, Buller realized that the birds Lyle had 177 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: been collecting from Tibbles were a previously unidentified species of wren, 178 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: so one of these Buller sent to London to the 179 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: British Ornithologists Union so it could be illustrated, and he 180 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: also was preparing his research and findings so that he 181 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: could publish his discovery of the Stephens Island wren in 182 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: the journal Ibis. It was believed that there had likely 183 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: been ten mating pairs of the wren on Stephen's Island 184 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: before Tibbles the cat got there. This is not a 185 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: large number of birds, to be sure, so it would 186 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: not really take very long for an enterprising cat with 187 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: decent hunting skills to severely damage those numbers. In eighteen 188 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: ninety five, just a year after Lyle and his cat 189 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: had arrived on the island, the christ Church Press commented 190 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,680 Speaker 1: on Tibbles's work, quote, there is very good reason to 191 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: believe that the bird is no longer to be found 192 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: on this island, as it is not known to exist 193 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: anywhere else. It has apparently become quite extinct. This is 194 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:15,079 Speaker 1: probably a record performance in the way of extermination, and 195 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: according to legend, Tibbles wiped out the Stephens Island wren 196 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: almost as soon as it was recognized as a newly 197 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: discovered species. So that's the story that you usually get 198 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: told in a quickie articles yep, or in like a 199 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: one sentence throwaway line in the context of something completely different. 200 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: It will be like and there was even an entire 201 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: species of bird killed by the light keeper's cat. Yeah, 202 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: but there is a lot more to this story. And 203 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: before we dive into that bigger, more detailed version of 204 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: what happened to the Stephens Island wren, we're gonna pause 205 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: and have a word from one of our sponsors. While 206 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: the story of Tibble's and the Stephens Island wren is 207 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: a cautionary tale about the day of invasive species, and 208 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: that is a very legitimate concern, the very simplified version 209 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: that is normally shared leaves out some more complex and 210 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: nuanced elements to the decline of one species due to 211 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: the import of another, as well as the involvement of 212 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: many more players in the narrative, as we are definitely 213 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:25,319 Speaker 1: not now playing the threat of invasive species, but that 214 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:28,679 Speaker 1: there's a bigger story going on here. During the construction 215 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: period for the lighthouse, an anonymous collector had visited the 216 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: island to gather specimens. Gal Breath and Brown put forth 217 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: the theory in their paper that the collector, which was 218 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: a pseudonym used by that person in question when publishing 219 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: in the Wellington Evening Post, was in fact none other 220 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: than the local natural history dealer, which was a man 221 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: named Henry H. Travers, and before Lyle and Tibble's even 222 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: set foot on the island, Sir Walter Buller was aware 223 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: of a number of birds to be found there, most 224 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: likely due to the accounts that the collector had published 225 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: in the paper or through contact with Travers himself. Of note, however, 226 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: no wren was actually mentioned in the writings of the collector. 227 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: I also just love that he wrote as the collector, 228 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: because of course there's the whole Guardians of the Galaxy 229 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: comedy tian that we could do. But he had not 230 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: mentioned the ren at all in any of these writings, 231 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: and there were no mentions of a wren in the 232 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: comments of Buller at a January eighteen ninety three meeting 233 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: of the Wellington Philosophical Society, where he discussed some of 234 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,839 Speaker 1: the unique birds that could be found on Stephen's Island. 235 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: Buller also suggested at that meeting that two other New 236 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: Zealand islands, Resolution Island and Little Barrier Island, could be 237 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: used as preservation grounds for some of the bird species 238 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: that were experiencing population decline on the mainland, but it 239 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:56,200 Speaker 1: appears that no similar consideration was given to Stephens Island. 240 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: Regarding David Lyle and Tibbles, we mentioned a few moments 241 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: ago so that they were not the only ones who 242 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: had moved onto the island. In fact, there were three 243 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: lighthouse keepers in their families, as well as a teacher 244 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: to see to the children's education seventeen people in all 245 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: at the start of eighteen ninety four, when the lighthouse 246 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:18,079 Speaker 1: became operational. While Lyle was sending his samples to Buller, 247 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: at some point Henry Travers also became aware of the 248 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: unique items being relayed by Lyle through an intermediary aboard 249 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 1: the supply ship. Travers and Buller were not unknown to 250 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: each other. As a dealer in natural items. Travers had 251 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: none business with Buller on a number of occasions, and 252 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: Travers s felt as though such rare and unique specimens 253 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: could be sold for more than Buller was able to pay. 254 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: He convinced Lyle to sell him some of the wren's skins. Yeah, so, 255 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: in addition to whatever activities are happening, we are now 256 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: seeing an uptick in human interest in these birds. And 257 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: this is where yet another man enters the picture, the 258 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: honorable Walter Rothschild, who had dealt with both Travers and 259 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: Buller as specimen dealers prior to this new discovery of 260 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: the Stevens Island wren, and as a wealthy Englishman, Rothschild 261 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: had both the means to pay handsomely for rare specimens 262 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: and the connections to publish information about them before Buller could. 263 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: There actually was some realization among the British Ornithologists involved 264 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: in publishing the IBIS and the British Ornithologists Club Proceedings 265 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: periodical to which Rothschild to which Rothschild's research had been presented, 266 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: that there were two men describing the same find but 267 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: both went to press yes. So for clarity, at this point, 268 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:47,479 Speaker 1: Travers has started selling to a very rich person in London, Rothschild. 269 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: At the same time Buller is also purchasing these samples 270 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,800 Speaker 1: and they are writing up about this newly discovered species, 271 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 1: and they both presented to both the IBIS and the 272 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: British Ornithologists Club's proceedings, just their little period their notes 273 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: on their meetings, and that's a small enough group that 274 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: there were a lot of crossover people going, hey, we 275 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: don't we have a thing from that guy Buller about this? 276 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: Didn't that ring ye before? Yeah, but we're going forward 277 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: with this too. So they both published, and it was 278 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: a little bit of a gentleman's drama. So Roth's child 279 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: named the wrend Traversia leali in the proceedings that was 280 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: published in December of eighteen ninety four. When Buller's paper 281 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: came out in April of eighteen ninety five, the bird 282 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: was called Xenicus in Solaris. And this entire chain of 283 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: events caused massive friction between the two men, each declaring 284 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: that the other had not been a gentleman. You may 285 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: recall from the beginning when we talked about the bird 286 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: that it is called Xenicus and then sometimes traversia in 287 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: parentheses leali. So in the end there was sort of 288 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: a a combining of the two in the scientific community. 289 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: This is like a much smaller in every sense of 290 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: the word, version of the bone Wars. Yes, But even 291 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: before four Buller's paper, which was printed by ibis that 292 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:07,199 Speaker 1: editorial from the christ Church Press we mentioned earlier that 293 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: declared the wren likely extinct had already come out. So 294 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: there was already an article saying the bird was probably 295 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: extinct before the scientific paper on it. Yeah, so there 296 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: was the first printed stuff in December. In March that 297 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: article came out in the christ Church Paper saying there 298 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 1: are no more of these birds. And then in April 299 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: Buller's paper was published saying I have discovered a new 300 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: kind of bird. It's a very complex and tightly packed 301 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: timeline in terms of like discovery and when this bird 302 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: was thought to have ended. So in March of eighteen 303 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 1: ninety five, Traverse wrote to Rothschild a letter that suggested 304 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: that he was hunting wren's himself to send to London. Quote. 305 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: I have recently returned from a special trip to Stephen's Island, 306 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: where I went to have a good hunt for more 307 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: specimens of Traversia Lealey, but unfortunately without success. I hunted 308 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,160 Speaker 1: the island over and round, and as I had three 309 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: men with me who formed my boat crew and some 310 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 1: of the residents of the island, you can imagine we 311 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: made a thorough search. I did not get any specimens 312 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: of the bird. I went specifically four, although mister Lyle's 313 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: boy gave me a specimen that had been found just 314 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: alive by the owner of the cat that had caught 315 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,640 Speaker 1: the others, and this his father had put into spirit. 316 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: So at that point cumans are also hunting the bird. 317 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: That claim of extinction in early eighteen ninety five may 318 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 1: have been premature. For one. Travers seems to have used 319 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: the news of the extinction to charge higher prices for 320 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: the preserved bird specimens that he offered to collectors after that, 321 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: so he might have been perpetuating this claim of extinction 322 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: for his own financial gain. Yeah, if you look at 323 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: how his prices rated. That first one that he sent 324 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: to Rothschild, I think he charged five pounds for and 325 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 1: then he tried to charge thirty five pounds four and 326 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: was eventually talked down to twelve if I'm remembering correctly. 327 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: So he was definitely like, they're no more of this bird. 328 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 1: It is a lot more expensive now. But both Travers 329 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: and Buller each received additional specimens for several years after 330 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety five, so even after he denounced personal collecting 331 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: of endangered species specimens, Buller continued to seek out the 332 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,439 Speaker 1: Stevens Island wren for himself, and when I say that, 333 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: I mean in specimen form, not live Steven's Island wrens. 334 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: He also made purchases for his son to have them, 335 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: as well as at least one other ornithologist, and Buller 336 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,920 Speaker 1: for the Record maintained in his notes that all samples 337 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: of the bird had come from David Lyle, and thus 338 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: that would be from his cat. But that gets into 339 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: some weird issues, as there are specimens in museums that 340 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: are labeled as late as eighteen ninety nine, well after 341 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:54,880 Speaker 1: Lyle had actually moved on from the Stevens Island Lighthouse job. Additionally, 342 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,120 Speaker 1: there are completely mismatched accounts of just how many preserved 343 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,880 Speaker 1: wrens there are floating around. If you compare the records 344 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: and letters of Travers and Buller, things do not match 345 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: up at all. Travers was still selling Steven's Island wrens 346 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: into the early nineteen hundreds, but it's unclear whether those 347 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: were items that he had been hanging on to for 348 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: several years or if they were new acquisitions. Additionally, even 349 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: those records might not truly reflect the lots that Travers 350 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: was selling at the time, so there's no way to 351 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: verify even the existence of Travers stock of the extinct bird, 352 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: let alone its condition relative to its age. Yeah, there's 353 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: one story of a museum that discovered that they had 354 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: a lot that someone had purchased from Travers, but it 355 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: was largely destroyed. It had not been properly cared for, 356 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: so they did not account for whether or not there 357 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: was a wren in the mix. There there's a lot 358 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: of not really fantastic record keeping, which leads to a 359 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 1: lot of the nebulous aspects of this story. So the 360 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 1: thing is, though, that collecting may have really had a 361 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: significant hand in the ex distinction of the Stevens Island wren, 362 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: But we don't actually know if Traver's ever managed to 363 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,639 Speaker 1: catch any the two times that he claimed he tried, 364 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: the one that we read his writings about earlier, and 365 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: there was one other time. He reported that he failed 366 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: on both of those occasions, And there are additional factors too. 367 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 1: Remember earlier when we mentioned that there were other people 368 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: who moved to the island in addition to David Lyle 369 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:29,159 Speaker 1: and Tibbles, Apparently someone else in that group of people 370 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: also brought at least one other cat, or possibly Tibbles 371 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: was pregnant when she arrived, because within a few years 372 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: there was a cat population on Stephen's Island, not just 373 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: one cat. And it's also possible that the name Tibbles 374 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: was just attached to the story later it wasn't even 375 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: Lyle's cat in the first place, but just a cat 376 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 1: that happened to be around. Yeah, it's like I said, 377 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 1: it's been simplified in a really fun way to tell, 378 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: but it doesn't necessarily reflect the reality. And we're going 379 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: to talk more about the cats on Stephen's Island and 380 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: what happened to all those bird bodies after we first 381 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:16,920 Speaker 1: take a little sponsor break. So right before we went 382 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: to break, Tracy was saying that there was a cat 383 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: population at some point on the island, and it's unclear 384 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: when exactly it became more than one cat, or if 385 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: it had always been more than one cat. There are 386 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: mentions of other cats in notes and writings made by 387 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: people about those early days of the Lighthouse community, but 388 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: these are all anecdotal and they were written after the facts, 389 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:41,720 Speaker 1: so they're not especially reliable. As early as eighteen ninety five, 390 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: though Lyle was writing notes to Buller about the available 391 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: birds on the island, and he specifically references some of 392 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,360 Speaker 1: them being scarce due to cats plural. He also describes 393 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: those cats as having become wild, so there was already 394 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: the beginning of a feral population. Like a year after 395 00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 1: he had arrived ninety seven, the cat population was noted 396 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: by a lighthouse keeper as being a quote large number. 397 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: The report that description was included in also suggested that 398 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: some means of destroying the cats had to be found. 399 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: A few years later, in nineteen oh one, the native 400 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: reptile population was also in danger and a bounty was 401 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: established on the cats. Yeah, at that point they were 402 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,199 Speaker 1: kind of like, well, the birds are already gone, so 403 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: we'll figure this out. And it got put off within 404 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: and then they were like there was a very glorious 405 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: reptile population on Steven's Island, and they were like, Okay, 406 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: we can't let this happen again. Now we have to 407 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: kill the cats, which sucks. This is reminding me of 408 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 1: the webcomic camp We Don't Watch You. I don't know 409 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: if you've ever read that, but it is a camp 410 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 1: about children who have been sent by their parents to 411 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: this camp because they are not wanted for whatever reason, 412 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: and one of the early strips there is whatever one 413 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,399 Speaker 1: thinks is going to be a food drop, but it 414 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,120 Speaker 1: turns out to be a box full of feral cats. 415 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 1: And every installment of the strip after that has a 416 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 1: cat hidden somewhere. So in nineteen oh five, this was 417 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: four years after the cat bounty was established, Sir Walter 418 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: Buehler made a written suggestion that cats should no longer 419 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: ever be allowed on the island or on any other 420 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: isolated islands where native species could fall victim to their 421 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,400 Speaker 1: pre drive, and he also included the suggestion that if 422 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,680 Speaker 1: mice were a concern, for example, if people were going 423 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: to take care of the lighthouse and they were worried 424 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: about mice, that the state should provide, at state expense, 425 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,119 Speaker 1: mouse traps rather than allow feline rodent management in such places. 426 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: Over the course of more than two decades, hundreds of 427 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: cats were shot on Stephen's Island, and in nineteen twenty 428 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: five the island was declared to be free of cats. So, 429 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: even though it is not really entirely fair to blame 430 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,120 Speaker 1: Tibble's ending the Stevens Island, Wren the role of cats 431 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 1: in shifting the balance of wildlife populations is one which 432 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: has been debated for some time, and cats most assuredly 433 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: were responsible for the majority of the deaths of those birds, 434 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: and they were threatening other native wildlife on the island 435 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: after those wrens were gone. According to a study published 436 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,879 Speaker 1: in Nature in twenty thirteen, free ranging domestic cats in 437 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: the United States were estimated to kill one point three 438 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: to four billion birds that's billion with a bee and 439 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 1: six point three to twenty two point three billion also 440 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,639 Speaker 1: with a b mammals annually. For the purposes of that study, 441 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 1: domestic cats included both cats that have a home that 442 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: are allowed to roam and strays including ferrells, with homeless 443 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: cats responsible for most of those kills. That same study 444 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,560 Speaker 1: also commented that quote free ranging cats on islands has 445 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: caused or contributed to thirty three or fourteen percent of 446 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: the modern bird, mammal and reptile extinctions recorded by the 447 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:11,120 Speaker 1: International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Humans are 448 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:14,120 Speaker 1: still trying to figure out how to manage cab populations 449 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: in ways that are humane in order to curtail the 450 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,640 Speaker 1: unbalanced mortality in other species that can result from even 451 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: well fed but still prey driven animals. While cats, as 452 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: we discussed on an older episode, have become part of 453 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: human culture both for their excellent pest hunting skills as 454 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: well as their companionship, they are also very very good 455 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: at multiplying at a really rapid rate, so efforts to 456 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: find and execute a solution still continue. As an aside, 457 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,679 Speaker 1: it appears to have been Rothschild's account of the entire 458 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: situation that first pinned the loss of the entire species 459 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,920 Speaker 1: on tibbles, and then that was repeated for simplicity for 460 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: more than one hundred years. Yeah, and Rothschild this whole time, 461 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: we should point out, was in London. It wasn't like 462 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: he was on the sea. He wrote this after the 463 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: fact and having never actually been to the place where 464 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: this was taking place. And as for what happened to 465 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,919 Speaker 1: all of those deceased birds that were collected on the 466 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: tiny island, there are fifteen wren specimens accounted for, and 467 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 1: those have made their way into museum collections around the world. 468 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: Of the samples Rothschild gathered, the Natural History Museum in 469 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: London has three, The Museum of Natural History in New 470 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 1: York has four. The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia 471 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: has one, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, 472 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:36,359 Speaker 1: Massachusetts has one. The three that Buller had, one for 473 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: himself and two for his son, are in the Canterbury Museum, 474 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,719 Speaker 1: christ Church, which has two, and the last is in 475 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. There are also Stephens Island 476 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: wren specimens at the Colonial Museum now the Museum of 477 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: New Zealand Tipapa Tongarewa. I am probably mispronouncing that I 478 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,159 Speaker 1: could not find a good pronunciation example which is in 479 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: Wellington and the Otago Museum in Dunedin, and that one 480 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: actually lists two, but only one is clearly accounted for, 481 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 1: so there's a little bit of fuzzy fuzziness there as well. 482 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,880 Speaker 1: The Stephens Island Lighthouse still exists. It was converted from 483 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 1: oil to electric in the late nineteen thirties and then 484 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 1: was automated in the late nineteen eighties. In nineteen eighty nine, 485 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: the last lighthouse keeper left the island. It's not open 486 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: to the public and the Maritime New Zealand's Wellington Office 487 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: conducts operation and monitoring of the lighthouse remotely. Yeah, if 488 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: you want to go to the island, you're probably a 489 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 1: scientist because there are still multiple rare species on the island, 490 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: particularly what has been described by scientists as a diverse 491 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: reptile community. It is now in nature reserve. For example, 492 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: a reptile called the Tuitata is of particular import on 493 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: Stephen's Island as it is the only surviving species of 494 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: its order. They are also the cutest things, in my opinion, 495 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,440 Speaker 1: if you see pictures of them, they just have very cute, 496 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: little expressive faces. I saw some videos of one. Apparently 497 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: there was a reintroduction effort yeah with them, and as 498 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: I was looking for examples, I was like, I was 499 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: looking for videos of New Zealanders saying all these words, 500 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: and then I got down a rabbit hole of looking 501 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: at lizard videos. They're really cute, and it really has 502 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: become New Zealand is really making a massive effort at conservation, 503 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: and in part of in part, this whole episode is 504 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: the driver of some of those efforts. Like people realized, oh, 505 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,960 Speaker 1: if we are not thoughtful about how we handle particularly 506 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,200 Speaker 1: these small islands that are harboring things that cannot be 507 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: found anywhere else and are small in number, we will 508 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: then make sure those never exist on the earth again. 509 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: And we don't want that. So there is a lot 510 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: of care going into trying to preserve native species. Yeah, 511 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: so that is the more complicated than just tibbles. The 512 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: cat eate all the birds of how the Stephens Island 513 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: RN went extinct. Yeah, although cats were responsible for a 514 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: lot of it. I sounded a lot more chipper when 515 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:15,959 Speaker 1: I said yeah than the story actually warrants. Yeah. So 516 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: only in museums now in their deceased forum unfortunately. Yes, 517 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since 518 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,400 Speaker 1: this episode is out of the archive, if you heard 519 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook RL or something similar 520 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: over the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 521 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:42,360 Speaker 1: Our current email address is History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 522 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at missed 523 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 1: in History, and you can subscribe to our show on 524 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else 525 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 526 00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. 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