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. :/
Category Artwork (Digital) / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 600 x 600px
humans will be humans :\ its sad we put things like these out of existence .. good drawing though
NOOOOOO GREAT AUKS ;_;
I have loved Great Auks since I was knee-high to a lawn flamingo, and their method of extinction has always made me bitter...
I have loved Great Auks since I was knee-high to a lawn flamingo, and their method of extinction has always made me bitter...
They are lovable looking chaps. Them and Dodos. I love the fat bodies/tiny useless wings combo.
That's so sad. It never ceases to amaze me how thoughtless people were, and still are, when it comes to things like this. If there's a profit to be made from it, or no particular reason for people to give a shit, they just won't until it's too late.
Yeah, not one of our prouder moments here in Iceland. A stuffed Great Auk is the most valuable possession of the local museum of natural history.
geez, I hope I "get out of here" before things like domestic animals start going extinct. could happen anytime at these rates :T
Jesus one pair? Even they survived that was not enough to preserve the species, it's really sad it had to end that way though.
If you haven't seen the documentary series "The Life of Birds" I HIIIIIGHLY recommend it, especially with your recent bird sanctuary work. It's absolutely remarkable and SO GOOD
(also recommended: winged migration, Kestrel's Eye)
(I am a nerd for bird documentaries)
(also recommended: winged migration, Kestrel's Eye)
(I am a nerd for bird documentaries)
Its relative is the "thick-billed Murre." Hmm, there's a joke in there somewhere...
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.
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.
There's a marine bird place down here that I go to a lot - open aviary kinda thing with free roaming penguins and loads of different british species flying around. Anyway, the opening the exhibit is a huge showcase on these guys - with an awesome puppet show ;)
That is so disgusting, the stupid and horrific things people do again and again.
Fortunately, humanity has gotten a LOT better about that sort of thing over the last few decades. Sure, we're far from perfect, but at least there's a decent (and growing) chunk of humanity that's actually interested in conservation
not to mention a better concern for animal well being, back then they were merely something to shoot at.
There was one species I heard of that lived on an island with a lone lighthouse keeper and his cat. And the cat would constantly hunt and kill the birds it caught. It was the only recorded case of one cat wiping out an entire species of bird D:
That would be the tragic case of the Stephen's Island Wren. Used to be a widespread species throughout New Zealand before the Maori landed. The story about that one cat killing off the entire species is not totally true, as a few other specimens did survive a little while longer, but by the Stephen's Island was awash in feral cats and other introduced animals and the wren's days were numbered. =/
If anymore rain forests fall because of the wanting of it's wood, for money. It proves one thing, the money that is harvested isn't worth the cost.
I could've sworn I read the same story about the last Dodo birds >.>
Damn you, humanity! Now I'll never know if they taste like chicken. :V
RIP Little birdy buddies. Hopefully people realize the effect of their actions so things like this don't keep happening. ='(
I saw one of these (stuffed and mounted) at the Academy of Natural Science in Philly... :c
It reminded me why I hate mankind. :[
It reminded me why I hate mankind. :[
Yay, Humans! That makes what, a few hundred species we've wiped out single-handedly? We're fucking awesome!
Comments