Could the extinct Carolina parakeet fly again?
Regarding last Monday's News & Record feature about Carole Boston Weatherford's new book about the extinct Carolina parakeet, Dr. George Swan of N.C. A&T State University raised this point.
"Why not push right now for the Carolina parakeet to fly again, someday" Swan said in an email.
He wondered how far off is the day when stuffed Carolina parakeets - various museums have specimens - can be cloned using their DNA?
Ken Reininger, curator of birds at the N.C. State Zoo, while stressing he's no genetist, said he doesn't believe the technology to dowhat Swan suggests is there.
Besides, if you revive Carolina parakeets - last seen alive in the 1920s or possibly the 1930s - what would you do with them?
Hunting them for their valuable and beautiful green and yellow plumage was one reason the once plentiful bird declined during the 19th century. But loss of habitat was another reason North America lost its only native parot.
"This presumes the habitat is there to put them back out,'' Reininger said.
He says it's doubtful if a bird gone that long could easily adapt to old habitate - even if that habitate should still exist.
"Many times animals go extinct because their environment disappears," he says.
If brought back to life, they might disappear again for the same reason.
A researcher at N.C. State University referred questions on the subject to Jorge Piedrahita of the university's school of veterinary medicine, but he didn't respond to an email.
The researcher, while reluctant to give an authoritative opinion, said in the case of the Carolina parakeet the material might be too old for cloning.
Maybe someday the technology will be available, she said, but right now, "I don't think it is on the horizon."