The great auk was a charming, penguin-like bird that swam the waters and waddled along the shores of the North Atlantic. With the fantasy of de-extinction on the brink of becoming reality, the time for debate is now. Since the Great Auk went extinct well into historical times—and a large number of stuffed specimens are on display in various natural history museums around the world—this bird is an excellent candidate for de-extinction, which would involve recovering intact fragments of its preserved DNA and combining it with the genome of the Razorbill. Image: The Farne Islands are home to over 20 species of breeding seabirds, razorbills and puffins. It is the rarest bird to be seen in Britain since the great auk, which perished 200 years ago. An international team of scientists has met to discuss reintroducing the flightless marine birds onto the Farne islands off the north-east coast of England.Until the species’ final extinction in the middle of the 19Once out of the water, however, the striking black and white bird’s flightlessness made it vulnerable to humans eager to exploit its meat and feathers.In 1844 the last birds in the final known colony on an island off Iceland were killed.The important genes – those particularly characteristic of the great auk – would then be Fertilised embryos would then be implanted into a bird big enough to lay a great auk egg, probably a goose.“It’s one of the very few flightless birds of the northern hemisphere and it obviously played a very important part in the ecosystem of the North Atlantic.“It would be rather wonderful to feel that we could bring it back.”The Farnes, one of the very few island groups of the east coast of Britain, have been selected because are attractive to island-nesting seabirds.The number of breeding birds has approximately doubled in the last 40 years, thanks largely to protection from human disturbance and control of the predatory gull population.Each summer the islands now host tens of thousands of puffins, guillemots, razorbills and other species.“The bird has an appeal which I don’t think you can put into words,” he said.“It’s British, it’s large and it’s dramatic looking – black and white.”In each case the extinct genomes have been thoroughly sequenced, along with the genomes of their closest living relatives.In the case of the woolly mammoth, 16 genes governing three important traits have already been edited into a living elephant cell line by Harvard scientists.To reintroduce the Great Auk, a flock of captive-bred razorbills will eventually be needed to supply sufficient embryos.We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future.

Coleman (1963) original music : … It wasn’t long after this that the species became extinct when the last known individuals were killed […] Our planet is a busy, crazy place. By By Exiled from the tropical paradise where they once evolved, a tiny population of remarkable stick insects dodged extinction by hiding under a single...Get the latest nature news, views and videos delivered to your inbox. Or are conservationists' limited resources better spent on the wildlife we have left? The great auk could return to British shores for the first time in almost 200 years after geneticists hatched a plan to bring the extinct bird back from the dead.

There may be no more than 50 anywhere in the world. David Moscato Extinct, last reported in 1844. *Extinct* Auks. The razorbill is the closest living relative of the great auk.

A telling of the tale of the Last Great Auk in British waters. Great auk, flightless seabird extinct since 1844. It was made in 1840, when islanders on Stac an Armin suspected it was a witch and the cause of a tremendous storm. If they can be recreated, the birds will be reintroduced to the Farne Islands, a protected area that's currently home to the auks' cousins, the razorbills, as well as Atlantic puffins, The return of the auks, the de-extinction team argues, could restore some of the North Atlantic's lost biodiversity, and perhaps alleviate some of our own guilty feelings about killing them off in the first place.

It belonged to the family Alcidae (order Charadriiformes) and bred in colonies on rocky islands off North Atlantic coasts. "It's one of the very few flightless birds of the northern hemisphere and it obviously played a very important part in the ecosystem of the North Atlantic," journalist Matt Ridley, who is involved in the project, to bring back crucial species to struggling ecosystems, and undo some of the damage we've wrought on nature.

Story and pictures: Taliesin Coleman; (born 1999) Narration: Isa Marshall (1918) Film: David J.M.