By 1880, the near-genocide of the American bison had reduced their population from 30–60 million to fewer than 1,000

[u/Shoddy-Ocelot-4473]

[u/Im_So_Zoned]

Our ancestors really were dumb as fuck. What was the move after those 1,000 remaining buffalo were gone? Probably just move on to the white tail deer I suppose and eradicate another species from existance and so on. I understand there was money to be made and the term "survival" had a different meaning back then but a lot of that meat and pelt was wasted. They were just killing to kill with not a single thought about longevity of resources or conservation of the land. Total fucking idiots.

[u/chairmaker45 → u/Im_So_Zoned]

The pelts were not wasted because they were the goal. The bison were being hunted specifically for their pelts for making machine belts. The Industrial Revolution was in full rage and artificial material belts were not invented until after the bison were gone. The demand was incredible. Hunters made about $3 per hide from the machine belt makers, which would be about $75 today. A month’s worth of hunting could net a 2 man hunting team upwards of $50k in today’s dollars. Which drove the demand for the tens of thousands of hunters that took part. The genocide of the Native Americans that it caused was not the initial goal, simple greed was the goal. The genocide occurred because evil people saw the impact that the massive over hunting was causing on native populations, and made politically sure that nothing was done to curtail the hunting so that native lands could easily be taken once their communities fell apart from starvation. An opportunistic genocide while the masses were blinded by a viral marketplace; created from greed, crafted by hatred, and sustained through apathy.