The demise of these birds was not down to habitat loss but human exploitation ... who also crushed their single egg. The great auk has now become a powerful symbol of the damage humans can cause.

The great auk was hunted in the Scottish Isles ... the genetic variety was sufficient enough to withstand shifts in habitat and climate. So arguably, on genetic grounds, it was clearly a human ...

The great auk's reintroduction could create great ecological ... succumbed to extinction in the early twentieth century due to overhunting and habitat destruction. Today, scientists are embarking ...