The Great Auk - The Final Chapter
(Please first read Part I and Part II which were previously posted.)
June 3, 1844: One of the last refuges of the Great Auk (Garefowl) was Eldey Island, off Iceland. It was here that the Auk's took their last stand.
"As the men clambered up they saw two Garefowl sitting among numberless other rock-birds and at once gave chase. The Garefowl showed not the slightest disposition to repel the invaders, but immediately ran along under the high cliff, their heads erect, their wings somewhat extended. They uttered no cry of alarm, and moved, with their short steps, about as quickly as a man could walk. Jón with outstretched arms, drove one into a corner, where he soon had it fast. Sigurör and Ketil pursued the second, and the former seized it close to the edge of the rock, here risen to a precipice some fathoms high, the water being directly below it. Ketil then returned to the sloping shelf whence the birds had started, and saw an egg lying on the lava slab, which he knew to be a Garefowl's. He took it up but finding it broken put it down again. Whether there was not another egg is uncertain. All this took place in much less time than it takes to tell."
This marked the end of the species. The viscera of these two Auks, a male and a female, can be found in a Copenhagen museum. It is rare when the last survivors of a species die in captivity, nearly all the world's extinct species have taken their leave in absolute anonymity.
The last two Auk's, have neither anonymity nor captivity. They have the distinction of being clubbed to death by an expedition of men, hired by a bird collector who wanted auk specimens. The egg was sold to an apothecary in Reykjavik for £9 in 1844.
The sad history of the Auk can be found filed under S&P, for a sad and pathethic extinction at the hands of Homo Sapiens, in the Naybob Zone.
"Of all the creatures on this planet none is more dangerous than a human being." - Robert A. Heinlein
Updated from 04/14/05
I wish to thank: Brad Millen and the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal Ontario Museum
June 3, 1844: One of the last refuges of the Great Auk (Garefowl) was Eldey Island, off Iceland. It was here that the Auk's took their last stand.
"As the men clambered up they saw two Garefowl sitting among numberless other rock-birds and at once gave chase. The Garefowl showed not the slightest disposition to repel the invaders, but immediately ran along under the high cliff, their heads erect, their wings somewhat extended. They uttered no cry of alarm, and moved, with their short steps, about as quickly as a man could walk. Jón with outstretched arms, drove one into a corner, where he soon had it fast. Sigurör and Ketil pursued the second, and the former seized it close to the edge of the rock, here risen to a precipice some fathoms high, the water being directly below it. Ketil then returned to the sloping shelf whence the birds had started, and saw an egg lying on the lava slab, which he knew to be a Garefowl's. He took it up but finding it broken put it down again. Whether there was not another egg is uncertain. All this took place in much less time than it takes to tell."
This marked the end of the species. The viscera of these two Auks, a male and a female, can be found in a Copenhagen museum. It is rare when the last survivors of a species die in captivity, nearly all the world's extinct species have taken their leave in absolute anonymity.
The last two Auk's, have neither anonymity nor captivity. They have the distinction of being clubbed to death by an expedition of men, hired by a bird collector who wanted auk specimens. The egg was sold to an apothecary in Reykjavik for £9 in 1844.
The sad history of the Auk can be found filed under S&P, for a sad and pathethic extinction at the hands of Homo Sapiens, in the Naybob Zone.
"Of all the creatures on this planet none is more dangerous than a human being." - Robert A. Heinlein
Updated from 04/14/05
I wish to thank: Brad Millen and the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Royal Ontario Museum
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