Two preserved great auk specimens displayed at a museum in 1971. The last pair of great auks were killed in 1844.

In this way, the great auk went extinct. What caused such a precipitous decline? In the past, researchers have speculated that environmental change topped off by human greed took down the great auk.

The great auk had long provided humans with a source of meat and eggs. But from around 1500, hunting dramatically intensified when Europeans discovered the rich fishing grounds of Newfoundland.

A version of this story ran in 2018; it has been updated for 2025. This article was originally published on mentalfloss.com as The Bizarre Story of Britain’s Last Great Auk.

A bronze statue has been unveiled as a memorial to the last Great Auk killed on the Orkney island of Papa Westray. It is an exact copy of the last of the giant seabirds that lived on the island in ...

An image from Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting the Great Auk. Public Domain under PD-US The great auk, a large, flightless bird with a black back and a white belly, once lived ...

SWANSEA, WALES—Human hunters alone could be responsible for the rapid extinction of the great auk, according to an eLife announcement. Jessica Thomas of Swansea University said millions of the ...

The original remains of the Papa Westray Great Auk have been scanned and cast in bronze.

The original remains of the Papa Westray Great Auk have been scanned and cast in bronze.