Thennatives of Mauritius completely died out about a century after thenisland was discovered by Arab and Portuguese explorers.
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nThenmain reason they died out is because hungry sailors killed and atenthem!
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No,nwe are not talking about cannibalism (which is what humans eatingnhumans is called). We are talking about the extinction of the Dodonbird!
No,nwe are not talking about cannibalism (which is what humans eatingnhumans is called). We are talking about the extinction of the Dodonbird!n
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nYounsee, no people lived on Mauritius when Arab sailors first spotted thenisland during the Middle Ages and later, in 1507, when Portuguesenexplorers rediscovered the island, which is in the Indian Ocean about a 2,000 km (1,200 miles) away from Africa. The island was completely uninhabited.
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nUninhabited,nthat is, by people. Dodo birds lived there.
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nAsna matter of fact, Dodo birds lived ONLY on Mauritius—they livednnowhere else in the world!
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nThenDodo was fairly large for a bird: about a meter (3 feet) tall, andnabout 18 kg (40 pounds) in weight. The bird couldn’t fly, but thatnhadn’t been a problem for the Dodo because there was plenty of foodnand pretty much no large predators.
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nThatnis, until humans arrived.
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Thenextinction of the Dodo bird is sad, but it had an important result:npeople became aware for the first time that species could go extinct!nAnd some people felt pangs of regret, and they started saying andnwriting that extinction wasn’t wonderful, even when it isn’t your own species. Basically, thenextinction of the Dodo bird called attention to a pattern that hadnhappened before, but that had never before been recognized: the worldncan lose entire species when people invade a newly discoverednwilderness, especially when those people bring (on purpose or bynaccident) creatures and plants into that place.
Thenextinction of the Dodo bird is sad, but it had an important result:npeople became aware for the first time that species could go extinct!nAnd some people felt pangs of regret, and they started saying andnwriting that extinction wasn’t wonderful, even when it isn’t your own species. Basically, thenextinction of the Dodo bird called attention to a pattern that hadnhappened before, but that had never before been recognized: the worldncan lose entire species when people invade a newly discoverednwilderness, especially when those people bring (on purpose or bynaccident) creatures and plants into that place.n
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nThennand now, the Dodo serves as a symbol of extinction. And ever sincenLewis Carroll included it in Alice in Wonderland, the Dodo hasnbecome a part of popular culture. It has also been a sort of mascotnfor the people of Mauritius.
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nThenfirst settlers on Mauritius were Dutch people, in the 1600s; afternthe Dutch settlement was abandoned, French people settled the islandnin the early 1700s. Later still, Great Britain took control of thencolony. People came to live there from nearby Africa and India, plusnfrom China and various European nations. The people of Mauritiusncelebrate their 1968 independence from Great Britain today.
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nAlsonon this date:
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Crown Princess Victoria’s Name Day
Crown Princess Victoria’s Name Day n
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nAnniversarynof the appointment of a 12-year-old Park Commissioner
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nBirthdaynof Charles Boycott (the bad guy in the story of how thenword boycott wasncoined)
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