Dodo

The Dodo, native to Mauritius, is one of history’s most famous extinct animals, often mistaken for a cryptid due to persistent myths that tiny populations might still survive. Described as a large, flightless bird with a stout body and a curious hooked beak, it vanished by the late 17th century due to overhunting and introduced predators. Folklore sometimes suggests remote valleys could still hide a few living descendants, stories fueled by ambiguous footprints or local tales meant more to entertain than inform. The Dodo has become a powerful symbol of human-driven extinction and is often woven into cautionary narratives about lost paradises. Its legacy blurs lines between documented biology and hopeful legend, illustrating how the human heart yearns to believe that perhaps not all has been irreversibly lost. Even in death, the Dodo continues to roam cultural memory, a ghost bird haunting discussions of conservation.