STL Science Center

STL Science Center

15 August 2016

Dodos in Action

There are videos online that purport to have captured a live dodo in a Costa Rican rainforest. This is clearly not real and therefore has no place at all in this conversation. What is as real as a Raphus cucullatus can be in modern ages is the massive amount of documentary, movie, and short films that have been produced featuring dodos or very dodo-like creatures. The most popular dodo incarnation lately came from the first Ice Age movie in 2002. Most often the dodos are referred to as stupid animals incapable of saving themselves. However, stupidity was not the problem of the dodo so much as inexperience. Separated from predators and the inquisitive ape that then brought all of those troubles and began eating scores of dodos for as long as the large bird was, it did not know to fear or flee from sailors and the introduced predators that came with them. There are documentaries that exist, one such documentary is available online. I do not know the origin of the documentary or the year it was made, but it appears to be fairly old (late 1970's or early 1980's probably) and part of a series on extinct animals. The re-enactments are fairly entertaining and it is worth checking out.
The Dodo by MistyIsland1

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