Poster CALIFORNIA GRIZZLY - Wildlife - Educational Board

Contrary to collective thinking, Man did not exterminate DODO alone.

Admittedly, the arrival of the Man on Mauritius did not contribute to the safeguarding of the Dodo. Indeed, it introduces Crab-eating macaques, here represented in the branches of the tree, or pigs that have feasted on Dodo eggs. Man has also used it as a pantry to survive during long crossings.

But according to recent discoveries, it seems that, well before the arrival of the Western man, the dodos were massively victims of a devastating drought having affected Mauritius. At the "Mare-aux-Songe", excavations have indeed revealed a huge cemetery gathering a phenomenal amount of species of which thousands of Dodos, dead seems poisoned after a long period of drought. Would the man have given the coup de grace to a species already seriously threatened?

The Dodo is here represented on a dry ground, behind him a Tambalacoque, endemic tree of Mauritius, under the beak of the dodo seeds of Tambalacoque. Although controversial, a theory mentions the necessary intervention of the Dodo with the necessity of the passage of the seeds in his gizzard to allow their germination. Today, the Tambalacoque is saved thanks to manual techniques, however, in 1973 there were only 13 specimens of this tree, all 300 years old.

In the foreground, lush vegetation, a nod to the painter Henri Rousseau, called "the Douanier Rousseau", who painted the exotic lands inspired by the garden plants in Paris. In the background, Lion Mountain looks at what could be the last Dodo.

Discovered in 1581 the Dodo disappeared a century later, shortly before 1700.