It’s so sad to know that these animals existed many years ago, and then suddenly they are gone. They once walked this earth to live and survive just like the human beings. It’s so sad to know that the reasons for the extinction of these birds are the human beings. There are already lot animals that are extinct such as the Tasmanian wolf, Quagga, and Caspian tiger. Among those extinct animals the dodo was one of the famous.
Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird which inhabited the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. This bird had unique features that made it look funny. It weighed 20-23 kilograms. They were grey in color, had a large hooked beak and a plumage of white knot feathers at the rear of the bird. This was a distinct feature of the bird which makes it unique and hilarious. This flightless bird had a large build, and small weak wings which could not lift into the air. The name dodo was coined by the Portuguese sailors which meant “something similar” in Portuguese tongue or “dodoor” which meant sluggard or lazy. These birds were really friendly the sailors considered them as stupid and for that those humans abused the friendliness of the bird.
How did they become extinct? In 1598 Portuguese sailors landed in the island of Mauritius. This island was isolated. The dodo greeted the new visitors like a child being excited. They lack fear of this people that caused their extinction, their first predators. These people hunted them for their meat yet they tasted bad and had tough meat. They also brought with them animals such as dogs, cats pigs, rats and macaques that robbed their nests. Humans destroyed the forests which was their home. The last confirmed sighting of the dodo was in 1662.
The sailors did not only wipe out all of the dodos but distracted the balance of ecosystem in that island in unexpected ways. It had a potential effect upon the environment. The Mauritian “culvalria tree,” stopped sprouting seeds it might be next on the extinction list. Scientists believed that the dodo played an important role in spreading the calvarian seeds. In order for the tree to grow it must be eaten and be digested by the bird.
Dodo birds were not forgotten as a matter of fact they were already used in literature and pop culture. They’ve been a significant to environmental organizations. Dodo is a symbol as to how man should not act as if they don’t have a life just like these animals around them. People should act properly before no more animals left on this earth.
http://www.davidreilly.com/dodo/impact.html
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/Dodo/dodo.html?dino
