Natural History Museum, Port Louis

The Natural History Museum in Port Louis, housed in the historic Mauritius Institute building, is best known for its reconstruction of the extinct dodo. Assembled from subfossil bones, the display draws visitors keen to see a symbol inseparable from the island's identity. Further galleries present the endemic birds, marine life and geology of the wider Mascarene region. Set in the civic centre of the capital, the colonial-era building is itself an attractive example of nineteenth-century institutional architecture and vulnerable island fauna.