Extinct Birds

 

The Dodo bird

The dodo went extinct primarily because of human activity. Here’s a breakdown of the main reasons:

1. Habitat and Isolation

The dodo was native to Mauritius, a remote island in the Indian Ocean.

It evolved in isolation, with no natural predators, so it became flightless and lost its fear of humans.

2. Human Arrival (1598)

When Dutch sailors arrived, they brought new animals and began settling the island.

The dodo was easy to catch and kill for food, though it wasn’t considered especially tasty.

3. Invasive Species

Humans brought rats, pigs, and monkeys, which ate dodo eggs from nests on the ground.

These invasive animals reproduced quickly and devastated the dodo population.

4. Slow Reproduction

The dodo likely laid only one egg per season, making it slow to recover from population losses.

5. Deforestation

Settlers cleared forests for agriculture, destroying the dodo’s habitat.

Extinction Timeline:

First discovered: 1598

Last widely accepted sighting: 1662

Declared extinct: late 1600s to early 1700s

The dodo’s extinction is one of the earliest well-documented cases of human-driven species loss and remains a symbol of the impact of colonization and ecological disruption.

The most famous is arguably the dodo bird. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The closest living relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon.