Borin Grosbeaks by Ken _Gilliland
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
The Borin Grosbeak of Japan (Borin Island) has been extinct for 180 years. It was discovered by the Beechey Pacific expedition in 1827 on Chichi-jima. It was a friendly bird and had few, if any four-legged predators. So when humans arrived and settled, bringing in their domestic cats; the Grosbeaks did not (as did most other birds on the island) see the cat as a predator. By the time the birds realized cats were not friendly, it was too late, introduced rats fed on their eggs destroying their reproductive hopes and their forage areas were destroyed for timber and agriculture uses. These actions decimated the bird populations throughout the island.
The demise of Borin Grosbeak gives us a valuable lesson how seemingly innocent actions can throw off the balance of our planet... it is a lesson we still are failing to grasp.
Rendered in Poser 2010 w/o postwork. Model Credits: Streets of Asia (Stonemason), Cherry Tree (LB Botanicals) and the Borin Grosbeaks (from Songbird ReMix "Threatened, Endangered, Extinct 3"/me).
Comments (12)
Beautiful render and a worthwhile message. Thanks ken
Great loss and a valuable lesson!
human is the worst race of the planet. Beautiful render Ken!
what a pretty image!!!!
Beautiful little birds and nice render. A lesson we unfortunately never seem to learn.
excellent Ken well done another bird gone very sad
Beautiful render - and a sad story.
Provocative render with a now extinct bird. Well done. Jan
Beautiful birds and render! Sad story! When we loose a species we loose something of ourselves...
A lovely bird & spring image, but what a sad story about their loss!
Very beautiful, sad that they are gone.
Really lovely image Ken! Such delicate little beauties...you've done your magic again bringing them to life for us! It's always such a shame to hear of the loss of another noble creature in this world we've made for ourselves.