 The dodo is used to promote the protection of endangered species by environmental organisations , such as the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Durrell Wildlife Park . The Center for Biological Diversity gives an annual ' Rubber Dodo Award ' , to " those who have done the most to destroy wild places , species and biological diversity " . In 2011 , the <unk> spider <unk> dodo , which inhabits the same woods as the dodo once did , was named after the bird to raise awareness of the urgent need for protection of the Mauritius biota . Two species of ant from Mauritius have been named after the dodo : <unk> dodo in 1946 and <unk> dodo in 2013 . A species of isopod from a coral reef off Réunion was named <unk> dodo in 1991 . The name dodo has been used by scientists naming genetic elements , honoring the dodo 's flightless nature . A fruitfly gene within a region of a chromosome required for flying ability was named " dodo " . In addition , a defective <unk> element family from Phytophthora <unk> was named <unk> as it contained mutations that eliminated the element 's ability to jump to new locations in a chromosome . 
