TASK 3 : ESSAY
Read the article and write an essay by giving your opinion on the issue of ‘extinction’. Provide a title for your essay. “Dead as a Dodo”
Even though the Dodo Bird has been extinct for over 300 years they are still one of the most popular bird species out there. They even have their own expression named after them, “Dead as a Dodo”. Not exactly the saying I would want to have named after me but at least they have one. It is believed that the Dodo was related to modern-day pigeons and doves. They were about a meter (3.3 feet) tall and weighed about 20 kg (44 lbs). Obviously since they couldn’t fly they nested on the ground and would pluck the fruit from low lying bushes. It sounds like they had a pretty good life so what went wrong? In my opinion, the story of the Dodo bird is an example of extinction by humanity’s reckless ambitions going unchecked by any sustainability efforts. Before humans and other mammals arrived, Like many animals that evolved in isolation from significant predators, the Dodo was entirely fearless of humans. The rats, pigs and monkeys made short work of vulnerable dodo bird eggs in the ground nests. The combination of human exploitation and introduced species significantly reduced dodo bird populations. Within 100 years of the arrival of humans on Mauritius, the once abundant dodo bird was a rare bird. The last dodo bird was killed in 1681. I think, over hunting is one major reason the Dodo went extinct and another reason the Dodo bird died out is because of habitat destruction, another inevitable consequence of colonization. As the island of Mauritius was conquered, the natural resource of timber was being depleted exponentially. One driving force of the deforestation is when the Dutch used Mauritius as a prison for their convicts. Although the dodo bird became extinct in 1681, its story is not over. We are just beginning to understand the effects of its extinction on the ecosystem. In conclusion, I think by being...
Please join StudyMode to read the full document