S8 Ep149: 5/8. Thoreau, Extinction Denial, and the Destruction of America's Beaver Engineers — Dan Flores — Nineteenth-century intellectuals including Henry David Thoreau lamented the systematic extermination of iconic American fauna. Flores documents that the conc

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 1 December 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

5/8. Thoreau, Extinction Denial, and the Destruction of America's Beaver Engineers — Dan Flores — Nineteenth-century intellectuals including Henry David Thoreau lamented the systematic extermination of iconic American fauna. Flores documents that the concept of species extinction was initially incomprehensible to European ideology, which posited a divinely perfect creation precluding permanent species loss. Flores emphasizes that beavers, functioning as immense ecological engineers reshaping aquatic and riparian landscapes, exemplified catastrophic loss; their pelts became commodity targets for the emergent global market economy, driving enterprises like the American Fur Company and precipitating near-total beaver annihilation throughout continental North America.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is CBS Eye on the World.
0:08.4	Here's John Batchelor.
0:11.1	Continuing with Professor Dan Flores, his new book is Wild New World,
0:16.3	the epic story of animals and people in America.
0:19.2	Henry David Thoreau, certainly a man celebrated for his
0:24.1	literary skill and his observation talents, wrote very carefully, this is the 19th century,
0:31.8	when I consider that the nobler animals have been exterminated here, the cougar, panther, lynx,
0:37.3	wolverine, wolf bear,
0:39.3	moose deer, the beaver, the turkey. I cannot but feel as if I have lived in a tamed and,
0:45.4	as it were, emasculated country. I take infinite pains to know all the phenomena of the spring,
0:51.7	thinking that I have heard the entire poem. And then to my chagrin, I hear that it is but an, thinking that I have heard the entire poem.
0:54.2	And then to my chagrin, I hear that it is but an imperfect copy that I possess and
0:59.0	have read, that my ancestors have torn out many of the first leaves and grandest passages
1:05.5	and mutilated in many places.
1:09.0	I read that a loud professor because it's extremely sad and very accurate.
1:14.9	In your telling, you fill in the parts that Henry David Thoreau moves quickly past as
1:23.1	he celebrates a pond.
1:25.3	And in considering North America, I asked the big question because you've been
1:28.7	dealing with this story for quite some time, Dan, and I'm privileged to speak to you about
1:34.1	having read your book. Is this understanding that the Ro had? Is he isolated? Is he a loner at
1:41.0	the time? Or was this always there in America and just overwhelmed by the politics
1:46.0	and the prosperity of the age?
	...

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