Why the Dodo Became Extinct

Smithsonian ornithologists have “rebuilt” a dodo. The dodo was a large, pigeon-like, flightless bird which was abundant on Mauritius and neighboring islands in the Indian ocean during the seventeenth century. It became a symbol—first of stupidity and later of extinction.

In its restricted environment it apparently had known no serious enemies prior to the coming of man. It had grown heavy, taken to a ground existence, and lost the ability to fly. It showed no fear of man and, because of its clumsy movements, was easy to catch and slaughter, but its flesh was tough and tasteless, even for sailors who had gone for months without fresh meat. Dutch navigators called it “the nauseating fowl”.

Dogs brought by the sailors killed great numbers of the stupid birds. They might have survived despite their slowness and stupidity, however, had it not been for the pigs and Ceylonese monkeys which came to Mauritius with the first settlers. The rooting swine destroyed the bird’s eggs and the monkeys devoured its young. It was entirely extinct at the start of the eighteenth century.