This bird, the mamo, was killed for its plume; one of the astonishing number of Hawaiian birds that have become extinct. The “settling” of other countries were not only disastrous for the human inhabitants, but for the animal life as well.. “Settling” means you kill everyone and steal their shit. Then you declare the place, “civilized.”
The killing is often inadvertent. The lost species are collateral damage. A predator (rat, brown tree snake) is brought in by accident and the local species have no defenses and no time to evolve any. A species is brought as part of the colonial agriculture (pigs, various weed seeds in animal fodder). The landscape changes before our very eyes. Phragmites spreads like an infection. State highway crews disperse fire ants. Invasive species like those successful in disturbed habitat, and golly don’t we disturb it just. And then there is habitat destruction, less real estate for natives and invasives alike. It becomes musical chairs and you know who has a good solid seat when the music stops…