The Dodo

The Dodo was a flightless bird. This bird is a famous example of an animal being complety wiped out by man. This bird died out around about 300 years ago. The dodo has been extinct since the mid-to-late 17th century.   The Dodo was discovered in 1598 and extinct by 1681.

 In the year 1598 AD, Portuguese sailors landing on the shores of the island of Mauritius discovered a previously unknown species of bird, the Dodo.

The dodo bird, historically, has been viewed as a rather plump bird, weighing approximately 20-23 kilograms. The dodo is grey in colour.  The dodo has a large, hooked beak and plume of white feathers adorned the rear of the dodo. Despite its large build, the dodo had small, weak wings which could not lift it into the air. Few bones or relics remain of the dodo today. Without complete skeletons, it is impossible to estimate the true size of the dodo bird. While modern estimates range from around twenty to twenty-three kilograms, initial portraits of the bird show a much slimmer creature. Work has been done by museum curator Andrew Kitchener, which suggest that the dodo could have been as light as between thirteen and seventeen kilograms.

The nests of the dodo bird were, by necessity, built on the ground as the bird was flightless. Dodo eggs were trampled and eaten by such creatures, and the ability to repopulate the species after hunting of the bird was seriously affected. While the dodo had existed for centuries or more in the natural Mauritian environment, the impact of mankind through hunting and the introduction of new predators placed too great a strain upon the dodo. Soon it was lost to the world. 😦