Extinct Pigeons (Passenger pigeon & Dodo)
Dodo (Raphus cucullatus), Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), Choiseul pigeon (Microgoura meeki), iverpool pigeon (Caloenas maculata)
EEP Coordinator: Frank Brandstaetter, Zoo Dortmund
EEP page - Extinct Pigeons (Passenger pigeon & Dodo)
What are the EEP roles?
| Model Species |
| Education |
| Research |
| The extinct species of the Columbiformes serve as models as how far human interaction with nature can go. Each species has its own extinction history. This comes especially clear by comparing the two most wellknown species of extinct pigeons, the dodo and the passenger pigeon. The EEP will serve as advocacy in as far as „learning from the past“ will ideally help to let this never happen again. Thus, extinct pigeons can teach us a lot about recent species on the brink of extinction like the Soccorro dove or the Tooth-billed pigeon. |
| The educational target is to demonstrate to a wider public what and furthermore how we lost part of our biodiversity. False impressions dictated the extinction as well oft he dodo as the passenger pigeon. Further, it is shown how ecosystems are dependend from each other and what fatal errors occur by insufficient taxonomic knowledge. |
| Ongoing research on the biology of extinct columbine species will be done (and observed) as well es studies on close relatedness of extinct and living species to establish well functioning conservation programmes without making the same mistakes as in the past. |
EEP in numbers
All the species in the EEP are extinct and therefore not in human care.
Programme highlights
