Discovery and Rescue

For more than 300 years, dodo birds have been extinct on this planet. On October 5, 2002, a group of inexperienced birdhandlers, while exploring the backwaters of central Indiana, discovered a unique, unfamiliar creature. Not knowing the consequences, the current caretakers rescued the bird and began their long journey home to Kentucky, where the specimen currently resides.

Revival

Due to the bird's poor condition, the creature was taken to a veterinarian hospital, where professionals slaved to save the bird from an upper-respiratory infection. After careful inspection, the creature was proclaimed to be of the long-extinct species Raphus cucullatus, commonly known as "the dodo bird".

Origins

Historically, the dodo bird was native to the small island of Mauritius, about 550 miles off the eastern coast of Madagascar (map). The amazing procedure by which one of these birds could have survived over 300 years without being detected, and migrated across the planet baffles scientists.

Condition

While the typical weight ranges from 13 to 23 kg, and averages around 1 meter tall, this particular specimen was only a hatchling--10 weeks, weighing in at 1.0 kg, and 11 cm tall at the time of discovery.

Recovery and Attitude

After the adoption of the dodo into a new loving family and a significant financial investment, the dodo successfully recovered. After much deliberation, the dodo bird was named Fredo. Through the process of evolution, the dodo bird has come to dislike water, vacuum cleaners, and marble balls. Somehow, Fredo developed feline-like traits that makes us believe over past 300 years the dodo bird species has evolved around the feline culture.