Book Review - The Last of Its Kind: The Search for the Great Auk and the Discovery of Extinction - Princeton University Press

 

 The sheer wickedness of human beings is not a subject on which it is healthy to dwell, and all the more so because it is so commonplace. 

Errol Fuller

    Much has been written about the demise of the Great Auk ( e.g. Fuller (1999), Gaskell (2000), Kolbert (2014), Birkhead (2022) - and others), and this work by Gísli Pálsson is an important addition to the body of work on this iconic and enigmatic species. It is scholarly and well-presented, enhanced in authenticity by the fact that it is written by an Icelandic academic, largely based on interviews with fellow Icelanders having a direct connection to the individuals who ultimately sealed the fate of this gentle creature of the northern oceans.

     It has long been a puzzle to me that animals that were (are) confiding around humans were not cherished for that very trait, but were considered stupid, and were slaughtered for their innocence. The Dodo is the most universally cited example of this travesty of human savagery, but it applies equally to the Great Auk. "Dumb as a Dodo," has become a universal epithet to be directed at those viewed as lacking intelligence. 

     The book is centred around the exploits of two British ornithologists, John Wolley and Alfred Newton, who were obsessed with the Great Auk and voyaged to Iceland in a vain attempt to secure specimens of the bird and its eggs. It was a classic case of early scientists, deploring the rapidly diminishing existence of a species, yet simultaneously seeking to capture some of what remained. It was hypocrisy writ large, but doubtless not seen in quite that light given the prevailing practices of the day.  

     Wolley died shortly after his return to England but Newton, who held the position of professor of zoology and anatomy at the University of Cambridge began to challenge the widely held belief, based on scriptural interpretation, that no species, created by God for the benefit, exploitation and enjoyment of man, could become extinct. Newton promoted the notion, backed up by evidence, that humankind could wipe out a species by continued harvesting until not a single representative still drew breath. He was instrumental in having the first laws relating to conservation enacted in Britain.

     Anthropogenic extinction has never been more threatening than it is now, in the aptly named Anthropocene, where the actions of man directly affect the environment and all the organisms extant on the planet. The Sword of Damocles is firmly in our hands; so far we have not wielded it with sensitivity.

     There is perhaps no more important matter to be addressed than the human-induced extinction of species, and the knock-on effect on the biosphere. The death of one portends the death of all. 

     The Great Auk serves as a cogent exemplar of the sheer finality of uninhibited greed; accompanied by gross cruelty I might add. Yet still we continue along this path.

     Do we have the will to change our ways before it is too late? Has callous indifference or the wanton disregard of other life forms taken us past the tipping point? Sadly, I fear it has.

The Last of Its Kind: The Search for the Great Auk and the Discovery of Extinction - Princeton University Press

Gísli Pálsson

Hardcover - US$27.95 - ISBN: 9780691230986

328 pages - 5.5 x 8.5 inches (13.75 x 21.25 cm)

16 colour and 37 black-and-white illustrations

Publication date: 6 February, 2024