Genetic engineers are getting closer to resurrecting this long-extinct bird, but conservationists must prepare for its eventual reintroduction to its homeland
Jo Caird
NATIONAL TREASUREolden ‘daffs’ offer the promise of spring, so no wonder they’re among our favourite flowers. The vast majority are planted but Britain has native daffodils, too. Our species is smaller and paler yellow than most commercial varieties, though no less beautiful. Every March, native daffs bring cheer to old woods in Devon, Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.
The dodo, a large flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, has been extinct since the 17th century. But this poster species for extinction is now one step closer to a return to its island home. Ambitious plans to resurrect the dodo were announced in January 2023, following news that scientists at the Genomics Institute at the University of California, Santa Cruz, had sequenced the dodo’s genome from a DNA sample taken from a museum specimen.
Now Colossal Biosciences, the US-based biotechnology and genetic engineering company attempting to bring back the dodo, has partnered with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF) to restore habitat necessary for its eventual reintroduction.
“The habitat of the dodo has been greatly modified through over four centuries of human colonisation of Mauritius,” says MWF conservation director Vikash Tatayah. Not only has agriculture, forestry and infrastructure led to habitat loss, but the predators that contributed to the extinction of the dodo, including cats, rats and pigs, are still present on Mauritius. Predators would have to be excluded or controlled in areas where the dodo would be reintroduced. Another option would be to identify predator-free areas, such as small islands off Mauritius. Another factor to consider as part of a feasibility study to be funded by Colossal is the presence of endemic plants. With
