Isobel Shepherd-Smith has a nice article on The Times website about the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and how it has been working to bring back native creatures from the brink of extinction. The article ticks many of the Last Chance To See boxes with mentions of Carl Jones, Dodos, Mauritius Kestrels, Pink Pigeons, Echo Parakeets, Gerald Durrell, Round Island, and Rodrigues.

In the Seventies the kestrel, the only raptor on the island, was one of the rarest birds in the world – only four lived in the wild. Today there are more than 800.

In 1980 the number of pink pigeons barely made double figures; 27 years later there were 380. In the 1980s the emerald green echo parakeet numbered little more than a dozen; now there are well over 300.
[...]
“At the start of this conservation work in the 1970s the future of the endemic species in Mauritius and Rodrigues seemed bleak and many thought that few could be saved from extinction. Thirty years later the long-term conservation of all the Mascarene [Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues] endemics is within our grasp.”

**LAST CHANCE REMINDER**
I'm giving away a second-hand hardback 1977 edition (ex-library copy) of Gerald Durrell's book "Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons". It's a very entertaining account of Durrell's trip to Mauritius, Round Island and Rodrigues to capture various creatures for his captive breeding programs. The book has a little water damage stain, but other than that, it's in very good reading condition, and is full of many nice illustrations and a section of black & white photographic plates.

If anyone would like a chance to read it now that I'm done with it, please simply enter your name in this ContestMachine widget below. Or, if you know someone else who may be interested, do let them know, or just post this competition to your favorite social network(s). US readers only please. Contest closes 02/19/09 09:47 PM

I'm giving away a second-hand hardback 1977 edition (ex-library copy) of Gerald Durrell's book "Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons". It's a very entertaining account of Durrell's trip to Mauritius, Round Island and Rodrigues to capture various creatures for his captive breeding programs. The book has a little water damage stain, but other than that, it's in very good reading condition, and is full of many nice illustrations and a section of black & white photographic plates.

If anyone would like a chance to read it now that I'm done with it, please simply enter your name in this ContestMachine widget below. Or, if you know someone else who may be interested, do let them know, or just post this competition to your favorite social network(s). I'll pick a random winner in two weeks time. US readers only please. Contest closes 02/19/09 09:47 PM

David Quammen's book "The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction", is previewed over at Google Books, and features the pages that introduce Mauritius Kestrel conservationist Carl Jones into the story. Carl Jones featured in both the Last Chance To See book and also in the Rodrigues Fruitbat Radio Episode which is now available for streaming from the BBC Last Chance To See website.

Carl Jones is a tall, sarcastic Welshman with a sheepdog haircut, a weakness for bad jokes, and a manic devotion to native Mauritian wildlife, especially the birds. His reputation carries far beyond south-western Mauritius, but I've only just met him, and I hardly know what to expect. I know that he has lived on the island a dozen years. I know that he runs a bird-rescue project in the vicinity of Riviere Noire, near the mouth of a system of steep valleys and igneous cliffs called (at least by the English speakers in this polyglot culture) the Black River Gorges. I know that the Black River Gorges contain small, precious remnants of forest, enclaves of wild landscape amid the sugar cane and the urban sprawl and the beach-tourism development that carpet modern Mauritius. I know that one focus of Jones's efforts has been the severely endangered falcon, the Mauritius kestrel, which stood just a sneeze from extinction then Jones first arrived. And I know that Jones, though trained as a scientist, retains the admirable passion and zeal of an adolescent pigeon fancier.

The full version of the book is available at both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The GuardianWeekly site recently ran this interview with Vikash Tatayah, a conservationist with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. In it, he tells of his experiences with the endangered animals on the island, including the Mauritius Kestrels and Pink Pigeons.

You have to be slightly crazy to be in this business. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation has been very successful in restoring animals, plants and forests, and people from all around the world come to volunteer on the programme every year. I oversee the conservation of Mauritius kestrels, pink pigeons (distant relatives of the Dodo), seabirds, reptiles and Mauritian fruit bats.

The Mauritius kestrel used to be the most endangered bird in the world. In 2004 there were only four kestrels known to be in the wild – now there are over 800. I’m proud to say that Mauritius and the neighbouring island of Rodrigues have saved more bird species than any other country in the world.

For more information, visit the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation website, where they are currently recruiting for a Round Island warden, although the webpage with the details is currently blank.

Here's an excellent essay about the wildlife of Mauritius, written by by Mark Daffey and published on "The Smart Set - Grand Tour" page back in January. The essay covers Dodos, Pink Pigeons, Mauritius Kestrels, Echo Parakeets and more.

From a total of just nine of the endemic Pink Pigeons remaining in the wild in 1990, a successful captive breeding program has increased their numbers on Île aux Aigrettes to 94, out of an estimated 380 throughout Mauritius. Most of them can be found in the protected Black River Gorges — Mauritius’ only national park.
[...]
While such feral animals are slowly being eradicated, the more than 30 staff who work on the island on any one day concentrate most of their efforts towards preserving native species, such as the Mauritius Fody, Echo Parakeet, Telfair’s Skink, and the Mauritius Kestrel, whose numbers had dropped to just four worldwide in 1974 (there are now more than 1,000).

Wildlife Extra.com reports on a VERY positive outlook for three Mauritius birds that featured in Last Chance To See, namely the Mauritius Kestrel, the Pink Pigeon and the Echo Parakeet. These numbers are looking very good, and have even resulted in the birds being downlisted by the IUCN from Critically Endangered to merely Endangered.

Mauritius Parakeet–a green parrot, males of which have a bright red bill - was once down to just 10 birds in the 1970s, but there are now some 320 birds living in the wild, and the IUCN has announced it has moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. This good news for conservation adds to an increasing list of conservation success stories from the island of Mauritius, mostly due to the work of the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, who concentrate much of their conservation work there.

This is the third such downlisting to occur on Mauritius in recent years due to their efforts. In 2000, Pink Pigeon, down to just nine birds a decade earlier, was downlisted to Endangered and now numbers 400 birds. Likewise, Mauritius Kestrel, went from just four birds in 1974 and now numbers approximately 1,000 individuals.

I thought I'd share these interesting animations by Iain Gardner from the UK.

Firstly, check out his film "Flight of the Dodo" which features Carl Jones talking about his work in Mauritius with the Pink Pigeon and Echo Parakeet.

And now, check out these "Sketchbook" animations of endangered animals such as Aye-Aye, Gorilla, Polar Bears and Rhinos. Iain says "These studies are as much about memory as they are observation. Memories are all we will have left of these species unless more is done to protect these wonderful creatures in the wild."