Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MAMMALS
Mauritius has only one native mammal, the wonderful fruit bat - they're a common sight
at twilight each evening as they come to life and begin their night's foraging.
All other mammals present on the island were introduced with varying degrees of suc-
cess by colonists. Mongooses are typical of the slapdash ecological management of the
past - they were introduced from India in the late 19th century to control plague-carrying
rats. The intention was to import only males, but some females slipped through and they
bred like, well, mongooses. Soon there were mongooses everywhere. They remain fairly
common, as are the bands of macaque monkeys that hang out around Grand Bassin and
the Black River Gorges. Java deer, imported by the Dutch for fresh meat, and wild pigs,
also introduced, roam the more remote forests.
REPTILES
Native reptiles include the beautiful turquoise-and-red ornate day gecko and Telfair's
skink (a clawed lizard), both of which can be seen on Île aux Aigrettes. You can rest easy
if you see a slithering critter - there are no dangerous reptiles in Mauritius.
TORTOISES
Mauritius, along with Réunion and Seychelles, once had the highest density of giant tor-
toises on the planet, a veritable Galapagos of distinct species, of which Mauritius and
Rodrigues had one each. In 1691, the French settler François Leguat wrote of Rodrigues:
'There are so many tortoises on this island, sometimes there are groups of two or three
thousand, so that one can take more than a hundred steps on their shell without touching
the ground'. Such abundance didn't last long, and both were driven to extinction during
the colonial period when sailors and settlers favoured tortoises as an easy-to-catch and
long-lasting source of meat; tortoises could be kept alive on very little food, ideal for
long-distance ocean journeys.
The only surviving species in the region, the Aldabra Giant Tortoise from the
Seychelles, was introduced onto Île aux Aigrettes (20) in 2000 and onto Round Island (12)
in 2007. The number of wild tortoises has since grown to an estimated 125 individuals.
Captive populations are also present at:
»
François Leguat Reserve (
Click here
), Rodrigues
»
La Vanille (
Click here
), Rivière des Anguilles
»
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens (
Click here
)
, Pamplemousses
»
Casela Nature & Leisure Park (
Click here
)
, Flic en Flac
