The most famous story of animal extinction is certainly that of the Dodo bird or Raphus cucullatus to give it its Latin name. It lived on the Island of Mauritius, situated in the Indian Ocean, approximately 2400 kilometers off the South East Coast of Africa.
In the year 1598 AD, Portuguese sailors landing on the shores of this island discovered a previously unknown species of pigeon. Having been isolated by its island location from contact with humanity, the dodo greeted the new visitors with a child-like innocence. The sailors saw this ignorant bird as stupid. They dubbed the bird "dodo" (meaning something similar to a simpleton in the Portuguese tongue). Most dodo birds were killed by introduced animals. By the late 1600s, the last dodo had died, and the world was left worse with its passing.
Mauritius is regarded today as an international centre for habitat restoration and the preservation of birds and reptiles. As a result of the work undertaken by conservation teams, Mauritius is at the forefront in the conservation of endangered species and is looked upon as a live laboratory which has set new standards for conservation around the world.
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