# Gone by Michael Blencowe (Paperback)

**Dynamic naturalist Michael Blencowe has travelled the globe to uncover the fascinating backstories of eleven extinct animals, which he shares with charm and insight in _Gone_.**  
  
**_'Really, really well-written.'_** – CHRIS PACKHAM  
   
Inspired by his childhood obsession with extinct species, **Blencowe takes us around the globe** – from the forests of New Zealand to the ferries of Finland, from the urban sprawl of San Francisco to an inflatable crocodile on Brighton’s Widewater Lagoon. **Spanning five centuries**, from the last sighting of New Zealand’s Upland Moa to the 2012 death of the Pinta Island Giant Tortoise, Lonesome George, his memoir is peppered with the **accounts of the hunters and naturalists of the past** as well as revealing **conversations with the custodians of these totemic animals today**.   
   
Featuring **striking artworks** that resurrect these forgotten creatures, each chapter focuses on a different animal, revealing insights into **their unique characteristics and habitats**; **the history of their discovery** and **just how and when they came to be lost to us**.   
   
Blencowe inspects the only known remains of a Huia egg at Te Papa, New Zealand; views hundreds of specimens of deceased Galapagos tortoises and Xerces Blue butterflies in the California Academy of Sciences; and pays his respects to the only soft tissue remains of the Dodo in the world. Warm, wry and thought-provoking, _Gone_ shows that **while each extinction story is different, all can inform how we live in the future**. Discover and learn from the stories of the:

-   **Great Auk**. A majestic flightless seabird of the North Atlantic and the ‘original penguin’.
-   **Spectacled Cormorant**. The ‘ludicrous bird’ from the remote islands of the Bering Sea. 
-   **Steller’s Sea Cow**. An incredible ten tonne dugong with skin as furrowed as oak bark. 
-   **Upland Moa**. The improbable birds and the one-time rulers of New Zealand. 
-   **Huia**. The unique bird with two beaks and twelve precious tail feathers. 
-   **South Island Kōkako**. The ‘orange-wattled crow’, New Zealand’s elusive Grey Ghost. 
-   **Xerces Blue**. The gossamer-winged butterfly of the San Francisco sand dunes. 
-   **Pinta Island Tortoise**. The slow-moving, long-lived giant of the Galápagos Islands. 
-   **Dodo**. The superstar of extinction. 
-   **Schomburgk’s Deer**. A mysterious deer from the wide floodplains of central Thailand. 
-   **Ivell’s Sea Anemone**. A see-through sea creature known only from southern England.  

A modern must-read for anyone interested in protecting our earth and its incredible wildlife, _Gone_ is **an evocative call to conserve what we have before it is lost forever**.

## Details

- **Price:** 8.99 GBP
- **Vendor:** Aurum Press
- **Type:** Michael Blencowe
- **Tags:** All Books, Nature

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 8.99 GBP | In stock |

## Images

- Gone by Michael Blencowe (Paperback) cover

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> Updated: 2026-10-16