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Steller's Sea Cow: Difference between revisions
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Steller also reported an incident where as one female was being captured, the rest of the group attacked the boat by ramming the sides with their heads. After the hunt, the mate of the captured female followed the boat to shore, even after she had passed. | Steller also reported an incident where as one female was being captured, the rest of the group attacked the boat by ramming the sides with their heads. After the hunt, the mate of the captured female followed the boat to shore, even after she had passed. | ||
[[File:Hydrodamalis gigas skeleton - Finnish Museum of Natural History - DSC04529.JPG|thumb| | [[File:Hydrodamalis gigas skeleton - Finnish Museum of Natural History - DSC04529.JPG|thumb|left|Skeleton of the Steller's Sea Cow at the Finnish Museum of Natural History. Photo by user Daderot.]] | ||
The indigenous peoples of the Aleutian Islands and St. Lawrence Islands, namely the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleut Aleut people] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_Yupik_people Siberian Yupik people] respectively, heavily depended on the Steller's Sea Cow for food and hide. They frequently moved around to be able to hunt the animal. As such, many local populations were [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_extinction extirpated]. By the time Europeans discovered them in the 1740's, it is estimated there may have been only 2,000 individuals left. Records conclude that by 1768, twenty-seven years after the discovery, the Steller's Sea Cow was extinct. However in 1887, zoologist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Hess_Stejneger Leonhard Hess Stejneger] determined there had been fewer than 1,500 individuals remaining at the time of Steller's discovery, and argued there was already an immediate danger of the sea cow's extinction. | The indigenous peoples of the Aleutian Islands and St. Lawrence Islands, namely the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleut Aleut people] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_Yupik_people Siberian Yupik people] respectively, heavily depended on the Steller's Sea Cow for food and hide. They frequently moved around to be able to hunt the animal. As such, many local populations were [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_extinction extirpated]. By the time Europeans discovered them in the 1740's, it is estimated there may have been only 2,000 individuals left. Records conclude that by 1768, twenty-seven years after the discovery, the Steller's Sea Cow was extinct. However in 1887, zoologist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonhard_Hess_Stejneger Leonhard Hess Stejneger] determined there had been fewer than 1,500 individuals remaining at the time of Steller's discovery, and argued there was already an immediate danger of the sea cow's extinction. | ||