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The Heath Hen ( Tympanachus cupido cupido)

Explore the fascinating story of the Heath Hen, a species that went extinct in the 1930s. Discover the limited documentation and photographs of this bird, including rare footage. Delve into the possibility of reintroducing its close relative, the Prairie Chicken, to Martha's Vineyard. Learn about the ambitious proposal to "de-extinct" the Heath Hen using DNA technology. Reflect on the concept of extinction and its potential exceptions.

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The Heath Hen ( Tympanachus cupido cupido)

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  1. The Heath Hen(Tympanachus cupido cupido)

  2. There are very few actual photographs of the Heath Hen because it went extinct in the 1930’s.(These are actual photos of “Booming Ben”, the very last Heath Hen on Earth, taken by Dr. Alfred Gross who studied the Heath Hen very carefully here on the Vineyard.)

  3. There are not even very many skins and taxidermed specimens today for scientists to study.

  4. The field at the James Green Farm, where the last living Heath Hen was seen on March 11, 1932 by Dr. Alfred Gross.

  5. When the final bird did not appear the following spring, the Vineyard Gazette of April 21, 1933 carried this obituary.

  6. In 2004, a plaque was put near the field to commemorate the Heath Hen.

  7. Explain this: If color photography didn’t come along until long after the Heath Hen went extinct, where did this color photograph come from?

  8. A close relative to the Heath Hen (The Prairie Chicken) still exists in the Midwest today, but in very small numbers. It nearly went extinct for the same reasons as the Heath Hen.(Click on image for a short video on the Greater Prairie Chicken 2:17) )

  9. The Heath Hen was actually a sub-species of the Prairie Chicken. They were extremely similar in appearance.

  10. “Extinction is forever.”

  11. Or is it?Some have proposed introducing a population of Prairie Chickens to the Katama Plains of Martha’s Vineyard, where their cousins the Heath Hens once flourished. What do YOU think?

  12. In 2014, an amazing old film was discovered and released, which has the only known movie footage of heath hens.(Click on image 2:21)

  13. And also in 2014, a biotech company called Revive and Restore actually proposed using Heath Hen DNA to “de-extinct” the Heath Hen!!What if…?

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