“The majority of this knowledge was established after its disappearance in the late-17th century because, despite surviving the arrival of humans on Mauritius for several decades, only limited and often inaccurate information on its behavior and ecology were recorded when the species was still alive, and no skins were preserved.”
“With respect to its behavior, it is inferred that it nested on the ground and showed little fear of humans. The latter is a common trait in island-dwelling species with no mammalian predators, and contributed to the unfair portrayal of the dodo as ‘stupid’.”
…
“We are quite confident that dodos were active at dawn, dusk or night-time, which would make it the only nocturnal pigeon in the world.”
“Perhaps this gave it an advantage over the many strictly day-active turtles that lived on Mauritius.”
And yet they neither saw nor smelled it coming.
Almost like every single other species made extinct by humanity.
Like in other places, the sailors introduced non-native species into a closed ecosystem.
they introduced other animals, including dogs, pigs, cats, rats, and crab-eating macaques, which plundered dodo nests and competed for the limited food resources.
At some point they should have gotten the vibe from the delicious bbq smell…
You cannot say they didn’t have an awareness in their own way, ecocide is not done upon inert vessels for trauma.
So they went extinct because they were eaten? Or was it something else?
They went extinct because it was an affront to the economic-spiritual beliefs of the humans that had existential power over them.
For these humans nature needed to reinforce a cosmology of good christian work ethic by presenting violent examples of the barbaric work ethic of beasts. The jungle must only reward tigers and never bonobos otherwise what has been the point of all our good christian guilt we have suffered?
Dodos died because they were an affront to both God and the lies the destitute workers were told to make them believe they were living their best life despite abundance evidence to the contrary.
Basically Dodos illuminated the nature of the chocalate factory in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory too kindly and simply.
https://biblioklept.org/2015/03/09/the-extinction-of-the-dodo-pynchons-gravitys-rainbow/
