There were supposedly only 13 specimens left, all estimated to be about 300 years old; the true age could not be determined because tambalacoque has no growth rings.

Others have suggested that the decline of the tree was exaggerated or that other extinct animals, such as giant tortoises, fruit bats, or the broad-billed parrot, may also have been distributing the seeds.

The decline of the tree may be due to introduction of domestic pigs and crab-eating macaques, and competition from introduced plants.

[3] More recently, the tree’s decline within native forests was shown to be in fact driven by invasive introduced species: The tree’s first germination in its native habitat were observed in 2001 (26 seedlings) exclusively where invasive alien weeds had been cleared [4] and further observations and controlled experiments showed that invasive introduced macaques (Macaca fascicularis Rafles 1821) pick most of the tree’s fruits when still unripe, killing the seeds, and reducing natural germination rates by up to about 40 times [5].

The dodo tree is highly valued for its wood in Mauritius, which has led some foresters to scrape the pits by hand to make them sprout and grow.