Can a name change the course of history?
In this hilarious yet sobering episode of Simply Wild, we dive into the bizarre true stories behind two legendary birds — the Great Indian Bustard and the Dodo — and how their unfortunate names may have played a part in their tragic fates.
You’ll learn:
Why India almost chose a bird with a risky-sounding name as its national symbol
How European sailors gave the Dodo a name that meant “fool” — then wiped it out
What these names reveal about power, extinction, and our strange relationship with wildlife
From colonial misnaming to modern ecological guilt, this is the episode that proves one thing:
Words matter. Sometimes, fatally.
🎧 Simply Wild is your weekly wildlife x history fix — strange stories, told fast.
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
(Dodo extinction, Great Indian Bustard national bird, funny animal names, how animals got their names, wildlife podcast India, Simply Wild podcast, Mansab wildlife stories, birds and extinction, history of animal names, bizarre animal history)
