Mascarene Islands Mauritius France

Portuguese explorers of the uninhabited Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, Reunion, and Rodriguez) discover, from about 1507, three related species of large, stocky, flightless birds resident there for possibly thousands of years.

The Portuguese began to extensively hunt the turkey-size birds, called by them the dodo bird and related to the pigeons, as a source of fresh meat for sailors.

Monkeys and hogs brought to the islands by the sailors begin to overrun the dodos' nesting grounds.