section_path: Current candidate species for de-extinction/Heath hen
section_name: Heath hen
paragraph_text: Heath hen
  
  The heath hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido) was a subspecies of greater prairie chicken endemic to the heathland barrens of coastal North America. It is even speculated that the pilgrims ' first Thanksgiving featured this bird as the main course instead of wild turkey. Due to overhunting caused by its perceived abundancy, the population became extinct in mainland North America by 1870, leaving a population of 300 individuals left on Martha's Vineyard. Despite conservation efforts, the subspecies became extinct in 1932 following the disappearance and presumed death of Booming Ben, the final known member of the subspecies. In the summer of 2014, non-profit organisation, Revive & Restore held a meeting with the community of Martha's Vineyard to announce their project to revive the heath hen in hopes of restoring and maintaining the sandplain grasslands. On April 8, 2020, germs cells were collected from greater prairie chicken eggs at Texas A&M.