...The dodo has always gotten bad press.
Although the exact origin of the name "dodo"
is unknown,
it is suspected to come from
either the Portuguese ‘doudo’
meaning
foolish or the Dutch word ‘dodoor’
which translates to mean sluggard.
Either way, it is not a flattering
name for a harmless bird
that has been
extinct for over three hundred years.
...On the island of Mauritius, a species
of tree known as the Mauritian calvaria
tree, (Sideroxylon majus) also known as the dodo tree,
once flourished. After the last of
the dodos died, through time, people noticed
that the calvaria was not doing well.
Its seeds were no longer sprouting and
the tree seemed to be on its way to extinction.
Eventually, another theory arose:
what if the calvaria tree needed the dodos
to survive?
Some scientists suspected that the calvaria
seeds would only sprout after being eaten and
digested by the now extinct dodo,
a theory impossible to test and equally
impossible to discount. The death of one
species seemed to be leading to the destruction
of another.
Luckily, research has determined that turkeys
may be able to provide the same function for
the calvaria that the dodos once did; there
is still hope that the calvaria may yet be saved.
It is unfortunate that we have to work to recreate
something that nature had already established,
but at least there is hope that something can be done.
This concept of bio-diversity and the
inter-relatedness of all things is not entirely new,
but it is also not completely understood.
Once again we discovered the interconnectedness
of two species far too late in the game.
Only time will tell us how much damage we have
already done to the world's delicate ecosytem.
The loss of one species does not occur in a vacuum.
Each missing link makes the chain of life weaker.
The tale of the dodo bird and the calvaria tree
is more than cautionary; it is terrible warning
of what is to come if we do not take action
immediately.
As thinking animals, humans have
a responsibility to protect the environment
from the unique, large-scale damage that we can
inflict upon it. Our actions today will dictate
the world that exists tomorrow.
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