Why the Dodo Really Went Extinct 🦤

Morning Dodos!

Most people think the dodo birds went extinct cause they were… dumb.

(Which they were)

But that’s not why they went extinct.

Lemme tell ya what REALLY happened…

So it's 4 million years ago.

And you’ve got this group of ancient pigeons flying over the Indian ocean from Asia.

But then they spot something…

A very tiny Island! 

But this little island wasn't just any old island, its modern day Mauritius, a beautiful, tropical island with an abundance of food and absolutely ZERO natural predators…

These ancient pigeons had hit the JACKPOT.

So they did… for 4 MILLION YEARS!

They could eat as much food as they liked, all while never having to worry about any predators!

But, over time, this caused something strange to happen. 

Each generation of pigeon got bigger…

And bigger…

And BIGGER!!!

Until, like 4 million years later, those pigeons grew to like a METER tall.

This is where Dodos came from!

But there's a problem.

These Dodo birds have had life WAYYYY too easy.

Behaviors like fleeing from danger was once necessary for the dodos ancient pigeon ancestors to escape danger.

But Dodos don’t need to fly or run away from anything.

In fact, they literally lost the ability to fly… 

Or even feel fear.

But I suppose if they just remain isolated on their island paradise.

They’ll be completely fine…

And that's exactly when Europe showed up.

And you know what the Europeans brought with them?

Dogs, cats and rats (AKA predators)

Not good…

Because Mauritius was basically a predator's paradise.

Think about it.

There were giant yummy meat bags just waddling about…

They physically don't know how to run away from you…

And they poop out giant yummy dodo eggs and just leave them on the ground!!!

You can probably see where this is going.

The animals the Europeans introduced absolutely DECIMATED the dodos…

Dodos were killed by the dogs.

Dodo eggs were eaten by the rats.

And after about 24 years of this, nobody ever saw a dodo bird again…

So really, they weren’t dumb, they just got used to the easy life.

RIP.

Stay Cute,
Reece, Henry & Dylan 🌈

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