Today is July 3rd, 2020. On this day in 1844, the last pair of great a ox was killed.

Thanks to overhunting from eager collectors, these penguin-like birds

were wiped off the earth. Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Today we're covering the death of the world's last pair of great aucks.

Let's go back to the Icelandic island of Eldi on July 3rd, 1844, early in the morning. The 14 men aboard a small eight-oored boat struggled to control their vessel on the Atlantic

oceans churning waves. The towering island of Eldi loomed just ahead of them.

Landing on Eldi was nearly impossible.

It rose perpendicularly from the water on every side but one,

and even there making landfall was a challenge.

But if the men were brave enough to attempt it, great riches awaited them atop the island's

rocky spire.

They had come to LD in search of great ox. These foot tall flightless birds were increasingly

rare. Museums and private collectors were willing to pay vast sums of money to obtain a specimen.

The skin of a single great aawk could fetch up to a full year's wages,

and LD was the last known place to find them.

Over the past 10 years or so, hunters had ravaged the small islands Great Auk population

at the behest of a collector named Carl F Seimson,

the men who came to LD on July 3rd, 1844

were determined to capture whatever birds remained.

After successfully landing on the shore,

only three of the 14 men were brave enough to climb

the slippery route to the top of the island.

...