It has attracted my attention the fact that dodos could have been breeding in India for a long time, surviving the extinction of the wild population (estimated at the 1660s).
It is widely known that some dodos were sent to Europe as curiosities and probably never of them could breed here. However, the Dutch also provide some birds to Moghul Jahangir, who kept them at his menagerie in Surat. Jahangir was a passionate of wildlife, and he maintained a huge zoo and aviary at his dominions. Allegedly, it was one of the best at that moment.
The curious thing is that dodos might have breed there, as Ustad Mansur painted one of them in the 1610s and English traveller Peter Mundy wrote in his diary that he has seen a couple of dodos when he visited the menagerie of Surat (he visited Surat between 1628 and 1634 and he knows the dodos, as he has been previously in Mauritius). It seems unlikely than a couple of dodos survived there 15-20 years, even if possible.
Moreover, the most curious thing is that this year (2014) it has been finally proved (through publishing an undisclosed Japanese 17th century document) that the Dutch effectively brought a dodo as a present to the Japanese court in Nagasaki in 1647, which was very appreciated as a very rare animal. This story was never verified until this year; however, it's very curious the fact that dodos were last reported on main Mauritius in 1638 (they survived on remote offshore islets until the 1660s), so the bird sent to Japan in 1647 might come from an external stock of birds (India is closer to Japan than Mauritius).
The fate of the birds of the Surat menagerie is unknown, but the facility would probably continue to exist at least until the centre of power was relocated to Mumbai at the end of the 17th century. So, it's possible that the Indian stock of dodos could have lasted until the 18th century or even later? Could have they survived until today if someone would have continued breeding them in captivity?
It is widely known that some dodos were sent to Europe as curiosities and probably never of them could breed here. However, the Dutch also provide some birds to Moghul Jahangir, who kept them at his menagerie in Surat. Jahangir was a passionate of wildlife, and he maintained a huge zoo and aviary at his dominions. Allegedly, it was one of the best at that moment.
The curious thing is that dodos might have breed there, as Ustad Mansur painted one of them in the 1610s and English traveller Peter Mundy wrote in his diary that he has seen a couple of dodos when he visited the menagerie of Surat (he visited Surat between 1628 and 1634 and he knows the dodos, as he has been previously in Mauritius). It seems unlikely than a couple of dodos survived there 15-20 years, even if possible.
Moreover, the most curious thing is that this year (2014) it has been finally proved (through publishing an undisclosed Japanese 17th century document) that the Dutch effectively brought a dodo as a present to the Japanese court in Nagasaki in 1647, which was very appreciated as a very rare animal. This story was never verified until this year; however, it's very curious the fact that dodos were last reported on main Mauritius in 1638 (they survived on remote offshore islets until the 1660s), so the bird sent to Japan in 1647 might come from an external stock of birds (India is closer to Japan than Mauritius).
The fate of the birds of the Surat menagerie is unknown, but the facility would probably continue to exist at least until the centre of power was relocated to Mumbai at the end of the 17th century. So, it's possible that the Indian stock of dodos could have lasted until the 18th century or even later? Could have they survived until today if someone would have continued breeding them in captivity?
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