Fauna of Mauritius

Situated in the middle of the ocean, the early animals to reach Mauritius were those that could reach the island via water or air (which explains why Mauritius does not have any big mammal like elephants and giraffes). Some birds managed to make the journey as well as some smaller organisms such as invertebrates and reptiles. Over time these animals got used to being free from larger predators and many birds evolved into being flightless while the reptiles turned into giants. Unfortunately, man’s arrival led to the extinction of many species such as the dodo, numerous parrots, pigeons, rails, giant lizards, tortoises, turtles and the flying fox. Fossil records reveal that the red rail endemic to Mauritius was overhunted to extinction. The Mauritian owl endemic to Mauritius also and the top carnivore during that time went extinct as a result of habitat loss and shooting. Hunting and deforestation wiped out the Mauritius blue pigeon too. Today the endemic fauna of Mauritius consists mainly of reptiles and birds. Amongst the birds, the island houses 9 endemics, 3 of which have been saved from near extinction through conservation measures; they are the Kestrel (once the rarest bird of prey in the world), the Echo Parakeet (sole parrot in the Mascarene) and the Pink Pigeon. Certain bird species can be seen at specific locations of the island only such as the Trinidade Petrel that nests on Round Island (another population can only be seen off Brazil!). Concerning the reptiles, populations of surviving endemic ones can be seen on the surrounding islets where alien species failed to reach (one of the main sources of animal extinction in the past through competition etc). They include Telfair’s skink, the orange tail skink, Bojer’s skink, Bouton’s skink, Guenther’s Gecko, the lesser night gecko, Durrell’s night gecko, the keel scaled boa and the burrowing boa. Some exotics found their way to the island too like the four clawed gecko, the common dwarf gecko, the tropical house gecko, the Madagascar clawless gecko, the chameleon, the blind snake and the wolf snake. Recently giant Aldabran tortoises have been released on Ile aux Aigrettes to mimic the role of browsers. In the category of mammals, bats (out of 3 species only the fruit bat remains today) were the pioneers while the rats reached the island via Portuguese ships in the 16th century followed by the long tailed macaques. In 1606, pigs were brought to the island by the Dutch together with goats. In 1709, wild cats and dogs (brought for hunting) were occasionally seen in the forests. The 17th century saw an increase in mammalian population with cattle, deer, hares, rabbits brought to the island as food source and horses and mules to help in man’s daily work. Mongoose and tenrecs were introduced to control rat populations but they ended up doing more damage to chicken and game than to the rats. The establishment of all these animals led to a decline in the regeneration and survival of the native flora and fauna through browsing, trampling, eating of unripe fruits, breaking of eggs etc. In the amphibian category are the frog and toad introduced from Madagascar and South Africa respectively that are visible throughout the island. At the Casela reserve numerous big mammals can be seen like lions and tigers while crocodiles and tortoises are found at La Vanille Crocodile Park. With travel ease today many animals once foreign to Mauritius are now adopting the island as domicile though it is important to realise that Mauritius has a sensible ecosystem that needs to be preserved and hence import of animals is strictly controlled.