Great Auk
Facts:
- The great Auk is an extinct, large, flightless bird
- Scientific name: Pinguinus impennis
- Drove to extinction by hunters who wanted to use them for food, oil, fat and feathers
- Ranges from the North Atlantic to as far as southern spain
- Height: Ranges from 75-85 cm
- Very powerful swimmer
- Humans have hunted this bird for over 100,000 years to use it for fishing bait and as a food source
- There was a high demand for the bird's feathers in Europe during the mid-16th century which almost eliminated the population completely
- In Scotland in 1844, three men caught the last of the population in this area and killed it three days later after a large storm came, causing them to believe that the birds were witches who caused the storm
Ways we could have prevented the extinction of this animal:
- They could have regulated the amount of birds they killed for human resources