麻豆约拍

In 1844, three men landed on the island of Eldey off the coast of Iceland and crept up on a pair of Great Auks which had an egg in a nest and killed the birds and trampled on the egg. These are believed to have been the last Great Auks which ever lived. Being flightless birds the men had little trouble catching and killing them. As one of the hunters recalled 鈥淚 took him by the neck and he flapped his wings, he made no cry, I strangled him.鈥�

The irony is that once they became extinct, Great Auks became even more sought after; this time by collectors of their skins and eggs. Today there are thought to be 75 specimens in museums or private collections. In this programme, Brett Westwood visits the Great North Museum to see two of these; an adult and a juvenile, before meeting writer and painter Errol Fuller; the proud owner of a Great Auk egg; a beautiful but tragic reminder of what once was. But that isn鈥檛 the end of the story as Brett discovers because a group of scientists are hoping to bring the birds back from extinction in a process called De-extinction.

First broadcast in a longer form 16th August 2016
Original Producer: Sarah Blunt

Archive Producer for 麻豆约拍 Audio in Bristol : Andrew Dawes