They did the expedition for personal glory. Some died in transport. Some died in accidents. They ate the dogs because it was efficient to not bring extra food in case of problems.
Of the 50 that they purchased for the expedition, 2 survived.
Wow. I didn’t eat through it before, but just saw that other comment that they ended up with 12 at the end. Not really accurate when they were supplied with well over 50.
The 12 came because they got 21 more from Amundsen who just finished his trip to the South Pole.
"At the western base two dogs survived to accompany the party home.
Three pups had survived at the main base and their numbers were supplemented by 21 dogs donated to Mawson by Roald Amundsen on his return from the South Pole. Eleven of Amundsen’s dogs were shot almost immediately to conserve the food supplies."
They did the expedition for personal glory. Some died in transport. Some died in accidents. They ate the dogs because it was efficient to not bring extra food in case of problems.
Of the 50 that they purchased for the expedition, 2 survived.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_of_the_Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition
Wow. I didn’t eat through it before, but just saw that other comment that they ended up with 12 at the end. Not really accurate when they were supplied with well over 50.
E: 72 it looks like
The 12 came because they got 21 more from Amundsen who just finished his trip to the South Pole.
"At the western base two dogs survived to accompany the party home.
Three pups had survived at the main base and their numbers were supplemented by 21 dogs donated to Mawson by Roald Amundsen on his return from the South Pole. Eleven of Amundsen’s dogs were shot almost immediately to conserve the food supplies."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_of_the_Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition
So 74 then? Crazy. They just treated them as tools.