What happened to the great auk? What role did humans play in the disappearance of the giant seabird of the North Atlantic? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The extinction of the great auk is attributed to several causes. There was a volcano eruption on one of the breeding islands. However, the major factor is considered to be the mass killings of auks for egg collection in the 1800s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more to learn about the factors behind the great auk’s extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The great auk was a large, black-and-white, penguin-like bird (although it didn\u2019t actually belong to the penguin family). It had a big beak and a white spot under each eye. The great auk inhabited the islands of the North Atlantic, where it bred and raised young in massive colonies. It was a great swimmer but couldn\u2019t fly, which made the two-and-half-foot bird easy prey for passing sailors, who killed large numbers for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Auks probably once numbered in the millions. When the first settlers arrived in Iceland from Scandinavia, they regularly killed auks for food. In addition, auks were used as fish bait, burned as fuel, and plucked for mattresses. On islands where they gathered, they were herded into stone pens or onto ships to be killed. By the late 1700s, as a result of mass slaughter, the great auk population was in steep decline. While environmental causes like a volcano on one of the breeding islands contributed to the decline, egg collectors delivered the final blow. The last known pair of auks, incubating an egg, was killed so the egg could be taken for collectors on the island of Eldey, off Iceland, in 1844.<\/p>\n\n\n\n