
Unfortunately extinct are all three of the three endemic species of owl, all placed in the genus Mascarenotus. Apparently most closely related to the widespread genus Otus, the Scops Owls (one of which reached the UK from Europe two years ago and actually held territory for a while), the Mascarene owls were larger, and had the long legs without feathers which usually indicate a specialist lizard feeder. Their distinctiveness is such that they may have originally evolved on the islands preceding the emergence of Mauritius. They were all gone by 1830 at the earliest. Shown here is a Madagascar Scops owl.

Finally, we have two species of kestrel. The Reunion Dubois’ Kestrel is now extinct, but was similar in structure to the European Common kestrel Falco tinnunculus. Surviving reasonably well (and shown below) is the Mauritius kestrel, Falco punctatus, but it was a very close run with extinction.
The initial problem was deforestation, which by 1900 had reduced the population to about 200 pairs. The final disaster was DDT spraying for malaria, which eliminated all birds outside one small area, the Black River Gorges where it was not used. In 1974 the total wild population known was four birds, of which only one was a breeding female.
At this point an extensive support plan was put into effect. Wild eggs were harvested to create a captive population, and nestlings were supplementary fed. Removing eggs from an incomplete clutch of eggs often results in birds laying additional eggs, so boosting productivity. Nest sites were monitored and protected against raids by monkeys or rats. By 1994 nearly 350 had been released.
Today the Mauritius kestrel has a wild population of 800 – 1000 individuals, and has been downgraded from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable status.
The ongoing threats are introduced predators such as monkeys, and potentially introduced avian diseases. The small population that the birds were reduced to means that the birds have lost a lot of genetic diversity and this makes the population more vulnerable to new diseases.
No comments:
Post a Comment