As Dead as a Dodo

Dodos an extinct species of bird that are closely related to modern day pigeons and doves.  Its closest living relative is the Nicobar pigeon, a bird who lives on the Nicobar islands. Dodos stood an impressive meter and weighed over 23 kilograms.  The dodo was a flightless bird.  They were grayish white all over except for their wings which were black.  They had a puff of feathers on their posterior, yellow legs, and a  nine centimeter hooked bill.  The dodos diet consisted of only fruit.  During the wet season, they ate all of the fruit they could get because during the dry season, food was not readily available.

Dodos are one of the few species of animal that have become extinct due to human activity.  The Dutch travelers arrived on the island of Mauritus, in the late 17th century.  Considering they have evolved away from any apparent predators, which made them fearless against people and that they were flightless, they made easy prey for the travelers.  In addition to over-hunting, they travelers brought other animals such as pigs and  crab-eating macaques.  These animals plumaged the dodos' nests, causing the population to drop.  All of this, in combination with the travelers cutting down the forest that the dodos inhabited, lead to the demise of the dodo.  The species was finally declared extinct in the early 18th century.

I find upsetting that an animal that was discovered in the late 17th century became extinct decades later due to human activity.  To think that could have been prevented if the the dutch travelers had not exhausted their resources.  Of course, this was the 17th century.  they did not have the idea of conservation and preservation.  Now it is the 21st century.  Species are still threatened by human behavior, such as the orang-utan and the African elephant.  We can all take a part in minimizing the decline of endangered species by protecting the environment and by using your resources wisely so that they don't go to was.  "Going green" does not only helps us, but it helps very other living thing in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo_bird