 |
[RC] Hunted to extinction? - k s swigartHeidi said: Given the very low population of humans at the time, and the fact that many other much-hunted species thrived (eg the buffalo), the idea that man was responsible for the demise of the horse on this continent 10,000 years ago doesn't wash. This is not necessarily the case. Wild horses have been hunted to extinction everywhere on the planet, and, I contend that the reason for this is the same as the reason that man was able to domesticate horses. Horses do not have the dispositions or natures to protect themselves adequately against skillful hunters. Neither their flight instinct nor their fight instinct is very well developed by comparison to many other large mammal species, which makes them easy prey. The nice thing about this, is it also makes them fairly easily domesticated. It is possible (no way to ever know other than by the circumstantial evidence suggests that the demise of the horse in the Americas rather coincided with the introduction of humans) that early Americans hunted the horse to extinction for meat before they were able to figure out that they could more profitably be pressed into service as beasts of burden. It is also possible, however, that some other environmental factors came into play. No way to ever know. The truth of the past is inextricably locked in the past, anybody who says otherwise is just guessing. kat Orange County, Calif. :) p.s. There is some evidence that the buffalo is one of the few of the much hunted species that survived the initial introduction of humans to the North American eco-system (long before the Europeans arrived in 1492 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|