Blackburn College is interested in taking part in a scheme to bring back extinct animals using the latest DNA technology.
Under a partnership between different learning facilities, Blackburn has been pencilled in for an attempt at bringing back the Dodo. Some may say they look to have drawn the short straw here. This unfortunate bird is certainly not glamorous, but more of a sign of pity. It is a symbol of man’s ill treatment of our fellow earthly creatures and perhaps history’s most famous example of this. The phrase: ‘As dead as a Dodo’ is about a real creature, unlike the other about a doornail.
Dodos lived on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. It was only discovered by Dutch sailors in 1598 and this association with our fellow human beings only lasted 64 years before this poor bird’s demise. There were no natural predators on Mauritius, but that all changed with its discovery by explorers from Europe. Not only was it human beings finding an ungainly and slow flightless bird, easily captured and eaten, but their fellow nautical travellers: dogs, cats, pigs and especially rats, finished off the Dodo.
Sadly, all we have left of the Dodo are illustrations taken by naturalists and a few specimens in museums. No complete bird was saved, although a head and other soft tissue remains are housed in Oxford University Natural History Museum. These remains are the only specimens which have potential to release DNA.
Bringing this bird back from the dead is no mean feat. Despite it looking like a cross between a turkey and a buzzard, it is actually a member of the pigeon family and its nearest living relative is the Nicobar Pigeon. Although scientists believe a Dodo could be bred using either a chicken or a turkey. If all else fails, maybe we could end up with a hybrid eating bird, with large eggs thrown in.
Another spin-off from Blackburn College working on the Dodo’s revival is recognition it would bring Blackburn. A lot of people say our nightlife is dead and needs reviving. The Dodo could become a symbol of rejuvenation of our town. Where there was extinction, there could be life. Blackburn’s phoenix from the ashes could be a Dodo from a test tube.
Blackburn with Darwen Council could show recognition here with a new coat of arms for our borough, incorporating the Dodo. Instead of a horn and bee, symbolising Blackburn’s first MP WH Hornby, we could use a Dodo and the Latin phrase ‘Sicut mortuus est dodo’.
