Day No. 12 of environemental news or facts is dedicated to ... the Mauritius Fody. In German: Mauritiusweber (literally translated: Mauritius Weaver). The Mauritius Fody is an endemic species in Mauritius and on the Île aux Aigrettes, a little island close to Mauritius where also some other highly endangerd endemic species survived - unfortunately not the Dodo. The Mauritius Fody once was a common bird on Mauritius, today it is a very endangered species. Reasons for the collapse of this species population - especially in the 1970ties - were the deforestation in the highlands, predation by invasive species such as rats and Cynomolgus Monkeys and through the competion with the Madagascar Fody. Like the Kestrel (an endemic falcon) and the Pink Pigeon the Mauritius Fody was very close to total extinction. In 1975 there were still between 247 and 260 breeding pairs, but in the following years a breakdown of estimated 55% made actions to save the little bird very necessary. Only in the Southwest of the island the bird had survived. To stabilize the Mauritius Fody some hand reared chicks were brought to the Île aux Aigrettes, a little island which is free of rats and other predators. Together with other actions the population stabilized. But in an area of 12 km2 only 140-170 mature individuals survived. Without human help the bird wouldnt survive. On Round Island a settlement attempt failed, because the Round Island Boa predated all of the young birds. Today it seems that the Mauritius Fody accepts even forests with non-endemic trees, which could help to save this species. Today we know that endemic species on little islands often underlay in the competion with other species and that their adaptation to the endemic plants and animals makes them very vulnerable for changes in their environment. We have seen, that everything we do has consequences, but are we able to learn and to drew conclusions? In the comments You will some more links to the species in my little blog.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 10:10:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015