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The DODO Bird: Extinct Reading Answers

Bhaskar Das

Nov 17, 2025

The DODO Bird: Extinct Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. The DODO Bird: Extinct Reading Answers has a total of 6 IELTS questions. In the question set given, candidates have to use the words/phrases given in the box below to complete the following sentences.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognise essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practising these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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The DODO Bird: Extinct Reading Answers

Section 1

THE DODO BIRD: EXTINCT

The Dodo bird inhabited the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, where it lived undisturbed for so long that it lost its need and ability to fly. It lived and nested on the ground and ate fruits that had fallen from trees. There were no mammals on the island, and a high diversity of bird species lived in the dense forests.

In 1505, the Portuguese became the first humans to set foot on Mauritius. The island quickly became a stopover for ships on the high seas engaged in the spice trade. Weighing up to 50 pounds, the dodos were a welcome source of fresh meat for the sailors. Large numbers of dodo birds were killed for food. Later, when the Dutch used the island as a penal colony, pigs and monkeys were brought to the island along with the convicts. Many of the ships that came to Mauritius also had uninvited rats aboard, some of which escaped onto the island. Before humans and other mammals appeared on the scene, the dodo bird had little to fear from predators. The rats, pigs, and monkeys made short work of vulnerable dodo bird eggs in the ground nests. The combination of human exploitation and introduced species significantly reduced dodo bird populations. Within 100 years of the arrival of humans on Mauritius, the once-abundant dodo bird was a rare bird.

Although the tale of the dodo bird's demise is well documented, no complete specimens of the bird were preserved; there are only fragments and sketches. The dodo bird is just one of the bird species driven to extinction on Mauritius. Many others were lost in the 19th century when the dense Mauritian forests were converted into tea and sugar plantations. Although the dodo bird became extinct in 1681, its story is not over. We are just beginning to understand the effects of its extinction on the ecosystem. Recently, a scientist noticed that a certain species of tree was becoming quite rare on Mauritius. In fact, he noticed that all 13 of the remaining trees of this species were about 300 years old. No new trees had germinated since the late 1600s.

Since the average life span of this tree was about 300 years, the last members of the species were extremely old. They would soon die, and the species would be extinct. Was it just a coincidence that the tree had stopped reproducing 300 years ago, and that the dodo bird had become extinct 300 years ago? No. It turns out that the dodo bird ate the fruit of this tree, and it was only by passing through the dodo's digestive system that the seeds became active and

could grow, Now more than 300 years after one species became extinct, another was to follow as a direct Consequence.

Will more follow?

Luckily, some creative people discovered that domestic turkey gullets sufficiently mimic the action of the dodo bird's digestive system. They have used turkeys to begin a new generation of the tree, which is now called the dodo tree. If these seedlings survive to produce their own seeds, the species will be saved.

Questions 22 - 27

Use the words/phrases given in the box below to complete the following sentences.

22, Since the dodo bird could get its food requirements from fruits that had fallen from trees, it did not have the …………….. to fly.

Answer: NEED

Supporting statement: it lost its need and ability to fly.

Keywords: lost, need, to fly

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 2

Explanation: The text states the dodo lost the need (and ability) to fly because it was undisturbed and ate fallen fruit on the ground.

23. The dodos faced an unwelcome intrusion into their lives from sailors plying the …………..

Answer: HIGH SEAS

Supporting statement: The island quickly became a stopover for ships on the high seas engaged in the spice trade.

Keywords: stopover for ships, high seas

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 2

Explanation: Sailors were travelling the high seas (the main ocean routes) and stopped at Mauritius, disrupting the dodo's peaceful existence.

24. Since the Dutch used Mauritius as a penal colony, they brought …………..to the island.

Answer: CONVICTS

Supporting statement: Later, when the Dutch used the island as a penal colony, pigs and monkeys were brought to the island along with the convicts.

Keywords: Dutch, penal colony

Keyword Location: Para 2, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The text directly names the people brought to the penal colony as convicts.

25. The species of………….. Birds became extinct when tea and sugar plantations came up in Mauritius.

Answer: MANY

Supporting statement: Many others were lost in the 19th century when the dense Mauritian forests were converted into tea and sugar plantations.

Keywords: lost, 19th century

Keyword Location: Para 3, Line 3

Explanation: The statement refers to many others, which were bird species driven to extinction, mentioned earlier in the paragraph

26. It was observed that a certain kind of tree was becoming quite …………….in Mauritius.

Answer: RARE

Supporting statement: Recently, a scientist noticed that a certain species of tree was becoming quite rare on Mauritius.

Keywords: scientist, rare on Mauritius

Keyword Location: Para 3, Lines 6-7

Explanation: The text explicitly states that the scientist observed the tree species was becoming quite rare.

27. The digestive system of the ………………is similar to that of the dodo.

Answer: TURKEY

Supporting statement: domestic turkey gullets sufficiently mimic the action of the dodo bird's digestive system.

Keywords: turkey gullets, dodo bird's

Keyword Location: Para 5, Lines 1-2

Explanation: The text indicates that the turkey gullet (part of the digestive system) mimics the dodo's digestive action.

Need Fresh Meat Many Gullet
Turkey Dodo Ability High Seas
Monkeys Rare Extinct Convicts

Read More IELTS Reading Related Samples

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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