One of only three known po'ouli birds has died. Environmentalists are crying over the inevitable extinction of the species, and of course they are also blaming mankind for the extinction. But look at these passages from the article and see if you can figure out what's wrong.

The small, stocky, brown bird with a partial black face described as a bandit's mask was discovered in 1973 by a group of University of Hawaii students conducting research on the east slope of Haleakala volcano. [...]

The po'ouli's numbers have dwindled because of habitat loss and introduced predators like rats, cats and mongoose. Nonnative diseases carried by mosquitoes have also taken a toll on the Hawaiian birds.

The L.A. Times has more:

Its natural habitat has been ravaged by development and by feral pigs, goats, rats and the Indian mongoose.

It struck me as odd that the bird is so rare that it was not even discovered until the 1970s, could be driven to extinction by human development. So, I did a little digging and found these tidbits of information published by the Hawaiian Government:

Although fossil remains have been found on the dry south slope of Haleakala, indicating that the Po`ouli was previously more widespread, it is currently restricted to the upper elevations of east Maui's rainforests, from 4,650- 6,680 feet. All of the known birds occur within the Hanawi Natural Area Reserve and adjacent portions of Haleakala National Park and the Ko`olau Forest Reserve. [...]

Almost all native forest birds are restricted to elevations above 4,900 feet. Possibly one of the most telling explanations for this restricted distribution is that introduced mosquitos, which transmit avian malaria, are common below this elevation.

This particular bird died of avian malaria, probably contracted by a mosquito. (Mosquitoes brought there by man, no doubt.) But what is really telling is that the bird died after being relocated from it's natural habitat above 4900 feet, to a facility that according to Maptech, is between 3400 and 3600 feet in elevation. Apparently it was these nosy busybodies moving it away from the safety of it's home that killed it.