Sixth Extinction - Ch. III: The Original Penguin

[Chris OConnor]

Sixth Extinction - Ch. III: The Original Penguin

Please use this thread to discuss the above-referenced chapter of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. You're also welcome to create your own threads if what you'd like to say doesn't necessarily pertain to a particular chapter.

[LanDroid]

It was in the service of such enthusiasts {collectors} that the very last known pair of auks was killed on Eldey in 1844.
p. 62

The men who went on a very dangerous journey to kill the last pair of auks and their egg are named a little later in the book. I wonder if that isn't an old method of fame, being known as the one to exterminate a species. I base this on some comments in A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. He describes brightly colored parrots that used to live in the Carolinas in the US. A man shot the last pair of them and as a result "felt joy." What a bizarre and arrogant pursuit...

The Cincinnati Zoo has a small building dedicated to Martha, the last passenger pigeon who died there on 9/1/1914. Not long before, huge flocks of these birds could almost darken the sky. The inscription at the zoo states "From Billions to None." (Here's a rough snapshot I took a few months ago.)