Domaine du Chasseur

In late 1950's species such as Mauritius kestrel, Pink pigeon and Echo parakeet were in immediate danger of extinction, and although numbers have grown they have not yet won the war of survival. In 1974 only four Mauritius kestrels existed making it the rarest bird on earth. Today there are more than 350 birds in the wild. Thanks to an intensive program of captive breeding, although the bird is still on the endangered species list.

The Echo Parakeet is the world's rarest parakeet. Since 1985, MWAF has been running a project to help wild parakeet's boost their numbers through captive breeding. In the early 1990s there were only about 20 to 25 echo parakeets in Mauritius. Today that figure has risen to about 40 but there needs to be 500 before it can be considered safe from extinction.

Other species such as Black Mauritius cuckoo shrike, Mauritius black bulbul, Mascarene paradise flycatcher and Mauritius Olive white eye are also threatened. Many of these species are already down to a couple of hundred birds.

The best known representative of Mauritius birdlife was the dodo - a large, plump, flightless dove which found its docility rewarded with extinction in the late 17th century. Although the dodo has since become a stereotype for extinction, few people realise that Mauritius still posesses several incredibly rare bird species in minute numbers which are as doomed as the dodo if the present efforts at conservation cannot be sustained.

Since the island's colonization in the 17th century, its thick forest cover has been destroyed by felling and intensive grazing. The secondary growth with which this has been replaced consists mostly of introduced plant species. Of the 38 or so remaining species of plants native to Rodrigues, all but two are considered endangered, vulnerable, or rare.