Unsung hero: Carl Jones
Most people think of Mauritius as being a paradise island, perfect for exotic holidays and beach weddings, and it certainly is all that.
However, before the lavish hotels sprang up, it was home to 27 species of birds, 24 reptiles and many other animals found nowhere else on Earth. Over the last 400 years, humans have managed to reduce the islands forests to only about 5% of what was once there; only 9 bird and 19 lizard species remain today.
Since the early 1970s, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), led by their scientific director Carl Jones, have been working continuously to try and re-dress the balance. Sent there by Jersey Zoo to collect the last of the Mauritius kestrels, which were seemingly doomed to extinction, Carl used techniques he had learnt on previously projects to rescue them without taking them out of the country.
Through habitat management, captive breeding, hand rearing and reintroduction, he has seen the population rise from 4 birds in 1974, to over 750 birds today - pretty impressive.
Following on from that success, the pink pigeon, echo parakeet, several smaller song-birds and many reptiles, seabirds and plants have been brought back from the brink, so that we may all enjoy them still today.
Find out more by visiting: www.mauritian-wildlife.org. Let us know who you think is an unsung hero at [email protected].
However, before the lavish hotels sprang up, it was home to 27 species of birds, 24 reptiles and many other animals found nowhere else on Earth. Over the last 400 years, humans have managed to reduce the islands forests to only about 5% of what was once there; only 9 bird and 19 lizard species remain today.
Since the early 1970s, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), led by their scientific director Carl Jones, have been working continuously to try and re-dress the balance. Sent there by Jersey Zoo to collect the last of the Mauritius kestrels, which were seemingly doomed to extinction, Carl used techniques he had learnt on previously projects to rescue them without taking them out of the country.
Through habitat management, captive breeding, hand rearing and reintroduction, he has seen the population rise from 4 birds in 1974, to over 750 birds today - pretty impressive. Following on from that success, the pink pigeon, echo parakeet, several smaller song-birds and many reptiles, seabirds and plants have been brought back from the brink, so that we may all enjoy them still today.
Find out more by visiting: www.mauritian-wildlife.org. Let us know who you think is an unsung hero at [email protected].
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