{"id":800,"date":"2011-12-23T10:22:41","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T10:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/?p=800"},"modified":"2012-01-01T11:02:27","modified_gmt":"2012-01-01T11:02:27","slug":"the-dodo-of-mauritius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/?p=800","title":{"rendered":"THE DODO OF MAURITIUS"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE DODO OF MAURITIUS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The dodo bird is the national emblem of Mauritius.<\/p>\n

Appearing on the coat of arms, on banknotes, on postage stamps and in a few valuable ancient paintings, the dodo has made Mauritius well known worldwide.<\/p>\n

Its extinction is no longer a mystery.<\/p>\n

Since the island was formed, around eight million years ago, among the first living creatures to inhabit it were birds. Some evolved into unique species found nowhere else on earth. The dodo is related to a pigeon that arrived from south east Asia.<\/p>\n

Over time the dodo developed its own features, such as its large strong beak, perhaps to crack nuts. Without any dangerous animal around to bother it, the dodo had no need to fly away, its wings shrivelled; it became flightless. The dodo\u2019s tail, a few curly feathers, was another curious feature.<\/p>\n

The arrival of men during the sixteenth century disturbed the dodo\u2019s peaceful life. The Dutch who landed here made the first detailed drawings of the dodo. Unfortunately many dodos were slaughtered for food, although the sailors did not really enjoy its taste.<\/p>\n

A few live specimens reached India and Europe. The dodo became a curiosity. The bird interested naturalists or bird lovers who added it to their collections.<\/p>\n

Monkeys and pigs brought by sailors to Mauritius were released on the island. Rats hiding on board ships found their way ashore. These animals would worsen the dodo\u2019s existence. They fed on the dodos\u2019 eggs and its young. And the dodo rapidly dwindled in numbers.<\/p>\n

The last time the live birds were seen was around 1668. The dodo became the first recorded case of extinction as a direct result of man\u2019s actions. As the unique homeland of the dodo Mauritius too became well known.<\/p>\n

During the eighteenth century, Dutch and British artists painted the dodo. But they did not work from live models and pictured the bird as excessively fat. Earlier paintings of an Indian artist and the drawings made by the first Dutch arriving here give a clearer idea of the dodo\u2019s appearance.<\/p>\n

A bronze model of the dodo can be viewed at \u2018Ile aux Aigrettes\u2019 Natural Park. Real dodo bones are exhibited in 27 museums around the world and a complete skeleton at the Natural History Museum in Port Louis. Scientific investigation of its bones enabled a partial recovery of dodo DNA, its genetic code. Let us hope that live dodos may one day be recreated and restored to their original habitat: Mauritius.<\/p>\n

Meantime the latest offering from KM Publishing will provide entertainment and an understanding of the life and loss of the dodo for you and your children.<\/p>\n

Le dodo est l\u2019embl\u00e8me national de Maurice.<\/p>\n

Figurant sur les armoiries, les billets de banque, des timbres post et peint en quelques rares tableaux de valeur, le dodo a fait conna\u00eetre l\u2019\u00eele Maurice \u00e0 travers le monde. Sa disparition n\u2019est plus un myst\u00e8re, plusieurs \u00e9tudes et recherches nous en informent.<\/p>\n

Huit millions d\u2019ann\u00e9es de cela, l\u2019\u00eele est n\u00e9e d\u2019une \u00e9ruption volcanique et les oiseaux \u00e9taient parmi les premi\u00e8res cr\u00e9atures \u00e0 s\u2019y installer. Certains ont \u00e9volu\u00e9 et devinrent des esp\u00e8ces uniques au monde. Ainsi en \u00e9tait-il du dodo, qui \u00e9tait apparent\u00e9 aux pigeons du sud-ouest de l\u2019Asie.<\/p>\n

Pendant des milliers d\u2019ann\u00e9es, le dodo d\u00e9veloppa des traits bien \u00e0 lui, son grand bec fort pour croquer des fruits de lataniers. Sans la menace d\u2019autres animaux dans ses alentours, le dodo n\u2019avait point besoin de s\u2019envoler : ses ailes se rapetiss\u00e8rent\u2026 Pour parfaire son allure, il portait une queue faite de quelques plumes curieusement boucl\u00e9es.<\/p>\n

Quand les hommes arriv\u00e8rent sur l\u2019\u00eele, au seizi\u00e8me si\u00e8cle, la vie du dodo devint moins paisible. Les Hollandais ont esquiss\u00e9 l\u2019oiseau et ces dessins restent nos premi\u00e8res informations d\u00e9taill\u00e9es sur cet oiseau. Mais, malheureusement, plusieurs dodos ont \u00e9t\u00e9 tu\u00e9s pour servir de nourriture, quoique les marins n\u2019aient pas vraiment appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 la qualit\u00e9 de la chair.<\/p>\n

Quelques individus furent export\u00e9s en Inde et en Europe. Le dodo \u00e9tait devenu un objet de curiosit\u00e9, il int\u00e9ressait des naturalistes ou des collectionneurs d\u2019oiseaux. Le dodo \u00e9tait aussi expos\u00e9 vivant dans des foires ou m\u00eame encore il \u00e9tait offert comme un pr\u00e9sent de valeur. On vendait et achetait des dodos secr\u00e8tement, et tr\u00e8s cher.<\/p>\n

Des marins de passage \u00e0 Maurice ont aussi d\u00e9barqu\u00e9 des singes et des sangliers. Et des rats qui se dissimulaient \u00e0 bord des vaisseaux, trouv\u00e8rent libert\u00e9 sur l\u2019\u00eele. Ces nouveaux venus menac\u00e8rent l\u2019existence des dodos, en d\u00e9vorant les oeufs et leurs petits. Incapables de se propager, leur nombre r\u00e9duisit rapidement.<\/p>\n

Au cours d\u2019un bref espace de temps, le dodo devint extr\u00eamement rare. Les derniers t\u00e9moignages sur l\u2019\u00eele remontent \u00e0 environ 1668. Cette disparition est le plus connu de l\u2019histoire sur la faune end\u00e9mique dont l\u2019homme soit responsable. Et l\u2019\u00eele o\u00f9 habitait cet oiseau unique, Maurice, devint c\u00e9l\u00e8bre \u00e0 travers ce drame.<\/p>\n

Au dix-huiti\u00e8me si\u00e8cle, des peintres hollandais et britanniques r\u00e9alis\u00e8rent des tableaux du dodo. Mais ils n\u2019ont pas travaill\u00e9 \u00e0 partir des mod\u00e8les vivants. Leurs repr\u00e9sentations \u00e9taient plus un oiseau trop gras. L\u2019ancien peinture d\u2019un Indien et les dessins des premiers Hollandais sur l\u2019\u00eele repr\u00e9sent mieux l\u2019apparence du dodo.<\/p>\n

Un mod\u00e8le de bronze est pr\u00e9sent \u00e0 l\u2019Ile aux Aigrettes, un reserve naturel. Des ossements du dodo sont expos\u00e9s dans 27 mus\u00e9es \u00e0 travers le monde et un squelette complet au Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Histoire Naturelle \u00e0 Port-Louis. Surtout, les ossements retrouv\u00e9s ont permis aux scientifiques de conna\u00eetre son ADN, c\u2019est \u00e0 dire son code g\u00e9n\u00e9tique, ce qui ravive l\u2019espoir d\u2019un jour recr\u00e9er des dodos vivants, qui retrouveront leur habitat originel: \u00a0l\u2019\u00eele Maurice.<\/p>\n

Entre \u2013 temps ce joli petit livre de Khalil Muthy fera revivre le dodo chez vous!<\/p>\n

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THE DODO OF MAURITIUS The dodo bird is the national emblem of Mauritius. Appearing on the coat of arms, on banknotes, on postage stamps and in a few valuable ancient paintings, the dodo has made Mauritius well known worldwide. Its extinction is no longer a mystery. Since the island was formed, around eight million years… Continue reading THE DODO OF MAURITIUS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture-misc","tag-culture","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=800"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions\/804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mauritiusmag.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}