Examining the Dodo

The Dodo was a flightless species of bird which went extinct in 1662 due to hunting. Limited to the small island of Mauritius, the Dodo had no natural predators and such was an approachable and unusually trusting creature. Whilst the general census seems to be that the Dodo became extinct because of it's own stupidity and inability to survive, in reality the Dodo was actually a species wiped out by humans. With it's lack of flight and docile character, the Dodo was an easy target for hunters and after the population had been weakened by a flash flood, humans hunting on the island and the importation of animals which destroyed the bird's nests resulted in its ultimate demise.

Pictured to the right of the figure in the illustration above, the Dodo is stout and round but a fairly large bird, standing at around a metre tall. The amount of meat these birds provided made them an ideal food source, and sadly it seems to be human nature to exhaust resources without considering what will happen when their finite nature materialises. The short documentary below provides a good and reliable insight into the background of the Dodo and why it was wiped out.  

This bird is a really interesting subject because it so recently became extinct; recent enough to have good evidence of the size, shape and colouring of the bird which can be used to create a relatively accurate semblance. The main colours of the bird are depicted differently in different examples, but the contrast between the warm grey and yellow face of the bird below contrast really nicely.