The Dodo bird inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian
Ocean, where it lived undisturbed for so long that it lost its need and ability
to fly. It lived and nested on the ground and ate fruits that had fallen from
trees. There were no mammals on the island and a high diversity of bird species
lived in the dense forests.
In 1505, the Portuguese became the first humans to set foot on
Mauritius. The island quickly became a stopover for ships engaged in the spice trade.
Weighing up to 50 pounds, the dodo was a welcome source of fresh meat for the
sailors. Large numbers of Dodos were killed for food.
Later, when the Dutch used the island as a penal colony, pigs
and monkeys were brought to the island along with the convicts. Many of the
ships that came to Mauritius also had uninvited rats aboard, some of which
escaped onto the island. Before humans and other mammals arrived the dodo had
little to fear from predators. The rats, pigs and monkeys made short work of vulnerable
dodo eggs in the ground nests.
The combination of human exploitation
and introduced species significantly reduced Dodo
populations. Within 100 years of the arrival of humans on Mauritius, the once
abundant Dodo was a rare bird. The last one was killed in 1681.
Although the tale of the Dodo's demise is well documented, no
complete specimens of the bird were preserved; there are only fragments and
sketches. The Dodo is just one of the bird species driven to extinction on
Mauritius. Many others were lost in the 19th century when the dense Mauritian
forests were converted into tea and sugar plantations. Of the 45 bird species
originally found on Mauritius, only 21 have managed to survive.
Although the Dodo became extinct in 1681, its story is not
over. We are just beginning to understand the effects of its extinction on the
ecosystem. Recently a scientist noticed that a certain species of tree was
becoming quite rare on Mauritius. In fact, he noticed that all 13 of the
remaining trees of this species were about 300 years old. No new trees had
germinated since the late 1600s.
Since the average life span of this tree was about 300 years,
the last members of the species were extremely old. They would soon die, and
the species would be extinct. Was it just a coincidence that the tree had
stopped reproducing 300 years ago and that the Dodo had become extinct 300
years ago? No. It turns out that the dodo ate the fruit of this tree, and it
was only by passing through the dodo's digestive system that the seeds became
active and could grow. Now, more than 300 years after one species became
extinct, another was to follow as a direct consequence. Will more follow?
Luckily, some creative people discovered that domestic turkey
gullets sufficiently mimic the action of the Dodo's digestive system. They have
used turkeys to begin a new generation of the tree, which is now called the
dodo tree. If these seedlings survive to produce their own seeds, the species
will be saved.
CAP SOLEIL - ILE MAURICE - Tour opérateur (License No. 03430) Membre de AIOM (Association of Inbound Operators of Mauritius) Adresse: 5 Impasse des Ibis - Sodnac - Quatre Bornes - Ile Maurice -
Tel: [230] 427 7454 - 55 -
Fax: [230] 427 0444
Email: soleilmaurice@gmail.com
