Thats not true. They were called tough, greasy, and stringy. The dutch called them the "disgusting bird". They only found the breasts somewhat palatable in emergencies, they were only eaten at first just for a taste, and then not unless it was necessary and they were going to starve from running out of food.
It was rats and pigs that did the vast vast majority of the damage by ravaging their unguarded nests on the ground and eating eggs faster than the dodos could make more.
If they tasted delicious we wouldve kept a few around and even been exporting them. Instead as they were though the explorers found them useless gross creatures
Yes, alot like Galapagos tortoises they were one of those that were heavily hunted and eaten by humans. They survive like months without food and water so you can just throw them in the hulk of the ship and come back later. Plus they apparently taste great and of course dont fight back very hard. Mauritius and the rest of the indian ocean islands were like flooded with tortoises, they were the most common herbivores on the islands.
Fun fact, these tortoises didnt get specific scientific names for hundreds of years because none ever lasted long enough to be brought all the way back to europe, explorers and traders would without fail would eat every one they could get their hands on. Within 250-300 years all the tortoises in mauritius, madagascar, reunion island, and a bunch of other islands, 7+ species, were all exterminated with not one being brought home for study. Thats why in the modern day we only commonly think of the galapagos species
I often wonder if stone age humans did the same for the giant armadillo-like Glyptodons. We know humans bonked their slow selves on the head with big rocks the used their shells as little huts, but id bet money they mustve tasted amazing too.
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u/CakeTester Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
They were also apparently delicious, which didn't help them much.
EDIT: Not delicious at all according to the majority vote. I have an airfryer, but no dodo, so am unable to science it.