Page 55 - World of Animals - Issue #33

ALIEN

INVASION

Across the globe, fragile ecosystems are threatened by
the arrival of invasive species – aggressive, adaptable

animals from overseas, who quickly dominate their
new surroundings

Words Alex Dale
History has done the dodo a great disservice. A mammals to prey on them. It made sense for the
large, flightless bird that once inhabited the island dodo to ditch costly adaptations such as defences or

of Mauritius, the dodo became the poster child of flight. But it meant that when invaders from outside
extinction when it was swiftly wiped out by Dutch Mauritius’ natural ecosystem arrived, the dodo was
sailors who arrived on the island in the 17th century woefully unprepared for survival.
searching for food. This is a scenario that is repeating itself all across
Clumsy and comical, the dodo lacked the survival the globe, as human activity has made it easy for
instinct to even be afraid of humans, and willingly competitive species to hitch a ride to new climes. It
plodded towards its own demise. doesn’t matter if they’re stowaways, escaped pets
But why would it have been afraid? When animals or have been introduced deliberately for farming or
evolve, they do so in response to their surroundings, cultural reasons. The end result is always the same: a
and pre-inhabited Mauritius was an avian paradise, large proportion of the area’s native wildlife going the
with plenty of fruit on the forest floors and no large way of the dodo.

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