FA+
Shop
The No Longer Great Auk
by technicolor_pie
Digital Artist
15 years ago
As a result of the volunteer work I've started doing at a local bird rescue, I've been doing a lot of reading up on various bird species lately. This includes the extinct ones. I must say, no extinction story has quite made me grimace as much as that of the Great Auk. From (http://www.messybeast.com/extinct/great-auk.htm):
The last stand of the great auk is well documented. On 3 June 1844 a group of fishermen, led by Vilhjalmar Hakonarsson, set out from Keflavik to inhospitable Eldey [Fire] Island, off the extreme south-western tip of Iceland in search of great auks. They were working on commission from Carl Siemsen, a dealer in Reykjavik, who had a purchaser lined up. The men tracked down only one pair of birds, which ran from them, and caught and strangled them, taking care not to damage the feathers or break the skin. The single egg, which would have been valuable if whole, was smashed in the melee so they left it."
The article explains that in spite of the clear rarity of the birds, nobody stopped hunting them because they were so sure there were more colonies up north somewhere.
Ugh, tragic. They looked like such cute birds. :/
The last stand of the great auk is well documented. On 3 June 1844 a group of fishermen, led by Vilhjalmar Hakonarsson, set out from Keflavik to inhospitable Eldey [Fire] Island, off the extreme south-western tip of Iceland in search of great auks. They were working on commission from Carl Siemsen, a dealer in Reykjavik, who had a purchaser lined up. The men tracked down only one pair of birds, which ran from them, and caught and strangled them, taking care not to damage the feathers or break the skin. The single egg, which would have been valuable if whole, was smashed in the melee so they left it."
The article explains that in spite of the clear rarity of the birds, nobody stopped hunting them because they were so sure there were more colonies up north somewhere.
Ugh, tragic. They looked like such cute birds. :/
2301
Views
32
Comments
72
Favorites
General
Rating
Category
Sub-Category
Species
Resolution
File Size
Artwork (Digital)
Animal related (non-anthro)
Unspecified / Any
600 x 600
75.3 kB
Cute picture, despite that.
I have loved Great Auks since I was knee-high to a lawn flamingo, and their method of extinction has always made me bitter...
(also recommended: winged migration, Kestrel's Eye)
(I am a nerd for bird documentaries)
This is pretty sad, though. Another species that was senselessly wiped out was the Carolina parakeet, the only parrot native to North America. They were hunted to extinction for no other reason than to top feathered hats, which were the in fashion at the time. They used to blanket the skies with their numbers; now they're completely gone.
If there's any plus to this, the same human carelessness that destroyed the Carolina parakeet ensured that it was replaced with escaped budgerigars and other small parrots, which flit about Florida and other warm states. It's not quite the same but it's better than nothing.
It reminded me why I hate mankind. :[