 The Réunion swamphen was consdiered a good game bird, and (unlike the purple gallinule) could be easily caught and killed with sticks, though it was fast but also a reluctant flier.The missionary Père Brown's testimony of 1724 is generally believed to be the last unequivocal record of the bird, but an anonymous British naval officer reports stories about birds limited to the high plateau that can be killed with sticks in 1763.The various reports disagree about whether this bird was considered good eating; most species of "Porphyrio" are generally considered to have a rather disagreeable taste.