Последняя голубка пассажирка: История Марты

Last known passenger pigeon

Martha (c. 1885 – September 1, 1914) was a passenger pigeon, the last known of her species; she was named "Martha" in honor of Martha Washington, the first lady of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

The history of the Cincinnati Zoo's passenger pigeons has been described by Arlie William Schorger in his monograph on the species as "hopelessly confused," and he also said that it is "difficult to find a more garbled history" than that of Martha. The generally accepted version is that, by the turn of the 20th century, the last known group of passenger pigeons was kept by Professor Charles Otis Whitman at the University of Chicago. Whitman originally acquired his passenger pigeons from David Whittaker of Wisconsin, who sent him six birds, two of which later bred and hatched Martha in about 1885. Martha was named in honor of Martha Washington. Whitman kept these pigeons to study their behavior, along with rock doves and Eurasian collared doves. Whitman and the Cincinnati Zoo, recognizing the decline of the wild populations, attempted to consistently breed the surviving birds, including attempts at making a rock dove foster passenger pigeon eggs. These attempts were unsuccessful, and Whitman sent Martha to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1902. These sources claim that Martha was hatched at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1885, and that the passenger pigeons were originally kept not because of the rarity of the species, but to enable guests to have a closer look at a native species. Martha soon became a celebrity due to her status as an endling, and offers of a $1,000 reward for finding a mate for Martha brought even more visitors to see her. Several years before her death Martha suffered an apoplectic stroke, leaving her weakened; the zoo built a lower roost for her as she could no longer reach her old one. Martha died at 1 p. m. on September 1, 1914 of old age. Her body was found lifeless on her cage's floor.

After her death, Martha was quickly brought to the Cincinnati Ice Company, where she was held by her feet and frozen into a block of ice. skinned Martha while Nelson R. Wood mounted her skin. When the Smithsonian shut down its Birds of the World exhibit, Martha was removed from display and kept in a special exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo. Martha was back on display in the Smithsonian from June 2014 to September 2015 for the exhibit Once There Were Billions. Martha has been on public display in the Smithsonian's "Objects of Wonder" exhibit alongside a mountain gorilla skull since March 10, 2017. She will remain on display there until the exhibit's scheduled closure in 2025.

Martha has become a symbol of the threat of extinction. She was used at the Zoological Society of San Diego's 1966 Golden Jubilee Conservation Conference as a mascot to emphasize the need for conservation. Hugh Prestwood wrote a song called "Martha" which details her trying to find a mate.