Great auk (Pinguinus impennis) — a mounted museum specimen of the extinct bird.
Image: Aiwok, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
At a glance
- IUCN category
- EX · Extinct
- Animal group
- Birds
- Population trend
- Trend unknown
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Checked against IUCN
- Matches source — IUCN's 2021 global assessment of Pinguinus impennis says ExtinctChecked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28 · assessment
Conservation overview
The great auk was a large, flightless North Atlantic seabird that looked and lived much like a penguin. It is assessed as Extinct, with the last birds killed in 1844.
It was hunted relentlessly for its meat, eggs, down, and oil.
Range & habitat
Formerly islands and coasts of the North Atlantic.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Hunting for meat, eggs, feathers, and oil
- Collecting as it became rare
- Loss of safe island colonies
Why it matters
A flightless seabird hunted to extinction, the great auk is a powerful early lesson in how relentless exploitation can erase even an abundant species.
Gallery
Great auk (Pinguinus impennis); a preserved specimen.
Image: Vertebrate Zoology Curator, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
Sources for Great Auk
- IUCN Red List — look up Great Auk (authoritative status)
- Animal Diversity Web