The dodo was wiped out during the Sixth Mass Extinction.
The Sixth Mass Extinction, also known as the Sixth Extinction or the Holocene extinction event, is an ongoing extinction event perpetrated by humans. It all started about 50,000 years ago when modern man first left Africa. Since then, it seems to have been nothing but confusion. At least 20,000 species have become extinct at the hands of humans, and possibly many more. Terrestrial species are the ones that have suffered the most, because this is where the human influence is strongest.
Island species were particularly susceptible during the sixth mass extinction.
First, from about 50,000 to 20,000 years ago, dozens of species of megafauna—large animals like mammoths, saber-toothed cats, the dire wolf, cave bears, and many others—extinct soon after humans began move to their territory. These are called the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions and represent the first phase of the Sixth Mass Extinction. Climate change is sometimes put forward as the cause of their extinctions, but this argument carries little weight, as the animals in question survived several glacial and interglacial periods before becoming extinct shortly after the arrival of humans, which was shortly after from the end of the last. ice age.
The Sixth Mass Extinction occurred when humans spread from continent to continent. First in Eurasia, then in Australia, and then in the Americas. Precious species like the elephant bird in Madagascar and the Haast’s eagle in New Zealand became extinct relatively recently, around 1500 BC. C., after the arrival of European explorers. Even animals that had unpalatable meat, like the Mauritius Dodo, were killed, mostly for sport. Useless, especially for the animals on the island, is their docile temperament, the result of living for thousands or even millions of years without large predators.
This event has accelerated especially in the last 60 years, from the middle of the 20th century to the 21st century. Habitat destruction and the introduction of invasive species such as rats, dogs and cats have resulted in the mass extinction of numerous animals, especially island species. These invasive species, created in the intense competition of mainland life, easily dispatch species from the islands. Invasive species eradication programs undertaken very recently, just in the last few decades, have preserved some species from the brink of extinction.
In many ways, the sixth mass extinction is different from the previous five mass extinctions. For example, it is the first known mass extinction caused by a species, especially a single species, rather than natural abiotic causes such as volcanism or an asteroid impact. It is also characterized by its relatively fast timeline of action, especially when referring to the last 60 years. Although some mass extinctions have occurred in 10,000 years or less, and the Cretaceous-Tertiary period extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs occurred very quickly, the Sixth Mass Extinction is faster than most others.