On my IG page, I occasionally reviewed nature and bird books. This post is no different.

Today, 7/14/23, I finished Michael Blencowe’s “Gone: A Search for What Remains of the World’s Extinct Creatures” today without putting it down. Literally. I bought the book a week ago, and read it every day. It is that good.

Blencowe takes us on a global journey to visit the world’s great natural history museums to meet, if one can use that world, the preserved specimens of ten extinct species, famous and obscure.

Great Auk. Spectacled Cormorant. Steller’s Sea Cow. Upland Moa. Huia. South Island Kokako. Xerces Blue. Pinta Island Tortoise. Dodo. Schomburgk’s Deer. Ivell’s Sea Anemone.

To be honest, I have heard of six of these, and even then, my knowledge was superficial. Reading this book reminded me there is much I don’t know about the animals that are gone forever. The biggest lesson, and one that Blencowe manages to avoid preaching or resorting to maudlin pleas, is the role we as humans have played as catalysts for their demise. It’s not my fault, not your fault, not his fault. It’s our fault.

Reading this, I was also inspired to visit these same museums and last haunts, such as Bering Island, the mountains of New Zealand’s South Island, and Widewater Lagoon near Brighton, England. More than that, I want to become more involved in conservation organizations and do whatever I can to raise awareness for endangered animals. Perhaps this blog will help me to realize that goal, albeit a very small step.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in conservation and animals, and for those who want a great read.

Stars: 5/5!