Saving Paradise

11 year old Iona, whom we know from this post was in La Digue recently and visited the Veuve Reserve. La Digue happens to be the stronghold of the critically endangered Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher, and the Reserve, created to protect this bird is one of the places where you can see the birds easily. When she got there, Iona was told that a new nest of the flycatcher had just been spotted. She went to have  a look and there she was able to observe a pair of flycatchers tending the nest. Here is her account of the experience.

I sailed to La Digue last week with dad, the boys and Liz who works with dad. We walked to La Digue nature reserve where Seychelles paradise fly catchers live. Josianna showed us a new nest which was next to the road and there was a female paradise fly catcher in the nest on an egg.

Female paradise fly catcher on the nest (Iona Varley)

I had wait a bit for the male to come on to the nest. The males as you can see are black all over apart from the beak which is light blue and around the eyes is light blue (above) . The male has a really long tail too (below).

The males are black all over apart from the beak and around the eyes

The female has chestnut brown wings and tail with black edges, black head and beak. the female also has a white tummy and neck. The young looks like the female. The wingspan is 23cm. The nest is made of palm spider web, sticks, feathers, leaves and moss.  November – March is supposed to be the time these birds breed the most, but I think they breed almost all year round. Paradise Fly Catchers are fearless and will go for any dare, because they know people on La Digue are no threat to them. Seychelles people call Seychelles Paradise Fly Catchers vevs and there motto is ” keep our vev flying!” While I was standing on the side of the road trying to take pics of the female on the nest I was surprised that (even though there where so many tourists on bikes) no one came to see what I was taking

Fruit bat resting in a boat, Madang. (Anon)

Fruit bats or Flying Foxes in Seychelles (Pteropus seychellensis) are often seen skimming over the sea and this behaviour has given rise to much speculation. However, there are a lot of field observations and publications over the last 100 years of fruit bats of the genus Pteropus skimming over freshwater bodies such as rivers, lakes, reservoirs and even swimming pools . Close observations show that the bats dip their chests in the water as they fly over and then lick the water off when they roost. They can also dip their feet and then lick at these afterwards (Bergmans, 1978).

Many Pteropus species are found in coastal areas and islands and have been seen drinking salt water (Kingdon, 1974; Kock, 1972; Nelson, 1989; Ratcliffe,1961). It has been said that this is to supplement certain minerals lacking in their diet (Fenton, 2001; Kretschnann and Hayes, 2004). Animals in general actively seek salt as it appears to be a limiting factor for some especially in the tropics. As the fruits and leaves of food plants of fruit bats may be rich in water but poor in salt (Herrera, 1987; O’Brien et al, 1998) it has been assumed that they need to drink seawater. Their kidneys appear adapted to excreting salt (Iudica et al, 1994).

Certainly fruit bats in captivity are given salt solutions in addition to freshwater on the basis of these observations. When Pteropus poliocephalus and P.alecto were given a choice between freshwater and saltwater (at half the concentration of sea water), the bats drank 2 to 8 times more saltwater than freshwater (Nelson, 1989). However, when the salt solution equaled or exceeded the salt concentration of sea water, the bats drank up to 9 times as much freshwater (Barnard 2011).

Like adults in care, fruit bat pups also usually prefer salt water to fresh (Tolga Bat Hospital). At the Tolga Bat Hospital in Australia 1 teaspoon of sea salt (ground up) is mixed with 1 litre of water.

Do the bats drink directly from the sea or do they dip their breasts or chests to lick the salt later? Observations of 3 species of Pteropus in New Guinea showed that they dip their muzzles in the water (Iudica and Bonaccorso, 2003). An observer in Seychelles has noted that Pteropus seychellensis dips its breast (Gerlach, 2003). This observer attributes this behavior to bats trying to rid themselves of parasites.

Mr. R.C. Wood, a naturalist living on Cerf Island  off the main island of Mahe in the 1950’s, observed some 60 to 100 fruit bats wetting their abdomen and feet (Wood, unpublished notes). The process has been dubbed “body-wetting” and has been observed in the Comorian sub-species  (Pteropus seychellensis comorensis) although  it is attributed to thermoregulatory functions (Stobbs 1994). It may be that the bats lick  the salt off their abdomens and feet when at rest and out of sight of observers.

Pteropus vampyrus in the Philippines regularly body-dips in the ocean presumably  to obtain sodium during later grooming  (Stier 2003). This particular study suggests that the behaviour may be integral to the life of the species since the ocean dipping provides the bats with salts, and further, “that this is a critical resource that limits the distribution of some species” (ibid).

Although skimming over the sea may be a risky strategy (Gerlach, 2003) “..flying foxes, often island inhabitants, may have to fly long distances to obtain food. A forced landing or a foray over water to collect fruit which has dropped and floated there may necessitate an unexpected swim. Photographs of the flying fox, Pteropus giganteus, show the animal actually swimming, using its wings and feet to reach land rather than floating or paddling.” (Encyclopedia Smithsonian, 1980). The Australian Spectacled Fruit Bat (Pteropus conspicillatus) risks being caught by saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) whilst drinking seawater (Nelson, 1989).

To prove without doubt that fruit bats really need salt for their metabolic balance, one may need “…to demonstrate that species of Pteropus can produce a hypotonic urine while able to conserve salts when fed on a water-rich and salt-poor diets, and alternatively would also be capable of producing hypertonic urine when fed on a water-rich, salt-rich diet”. (Iudica and Bonaccorso, 2003)

Nirmal Shah

Edited 11.4.2012

Refs.:

Bergmans, W. 1978. Review of drinking behaviour of African fruit bats (Mammalia: Megachiroptera). Bull. Carnegie Mus. nat. Hist. 6: 20–25.

Barnard. S.M. 2011. Diet and Feeding (from Bats in Captivity). Small Mammal Mail – Bi-Annual Newsletter of CCINSA & RISCINSA. 3 (2): 17

Encyclopedia Smithsonian. 1980. Bat facts. www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/batfacts.htm

Fenton, M. 2001. Bats. Checkmark Books, Revised Edition. New York, NY.

Gerlach, J. 2003. Sea-skimming by Seychelles fruit bats. Phelsuma. 11. 2003: 80.

Hall, L. 1983. Spectacled flying fox. In R. Strahan (ed.). The Mammals of Australia, Reed Books, Chatswood, 282.

Iudica, C.A and F.J. Bonaccorso 2003. Anecdotal observations of seawater ingestion by flying foxes of the genus Pteropus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Mammalia. 67(3): 455-458.

Iudica, C.A, F.J. Bonaccorso, and G. Richard. 1994. Sea water ingestion in Pteropus hypomelanus. Bat Research News. 35(4):102 (Abstr.).

Kingdon, J. 1974. East African mammals. An atlas of evolution in Africa. II, A (insectivores and bats). Academic Press, London and New York.

Kock, D. 1972. Fruit-bats and bat-flowers. Bull. E. Afr. nat. Hist. Soc. 1972:123–126.

Kretschnann, K and R.L. Hayes. 2004. Old world fruit bats- Pteropus 1. http://www.Jiffynotes.com/a_study_guides/book_notes/grze_13/grze_13_00825.html

Nelson, J.E. 1989. Pteropodidae. In Walton, D.W. and B.J. Richardson (eds.). Fauna of Australia, Vol. 1B. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, ACT, Australia. 852–856.

O’Brien, T.G, M.F. Kinnard, E.S. Dierenfeld, N.L. Conklin, R.W. Wrangham and S.C. Silver. 1998. What’s so special about figs? Nature. 292:668.

Ratcliffe, F.N. 1961. Flying foxes drinking sea water Journal of Mammalogy. 42: 252–252.

Stiers, S.C. 2003. Dietary habits of two threatened co-roosting Flying Foxes (Megachiroptera), Subic Bay, Philippines. Unpublished MSc Thesis. University of Montana, USA.

Stobbs, R.E.1994. Piscivory in the Comoro Islands flying fox Pteropus seychellensis comorensis – A refutation . South African Journal of Science.  90 (5): 264-265.

Tolga Bat Hospital, Australia. http://www.tolgabathospital.org/hospital_orphans.htm

The award was won for the Green Health Programme

About 15 years ago I found a book in my fathers huge library. It was called  “Voluntary Action” by a man called Beveridge and was published way back in 1948.  He launched a visionary mission that  changed  the world  because he saw  voluntary action as “private enterprise, not in business, but in the service of mankind, not for gain but under the driving power of social conscience”

Three aspects of this struck me then and drove me to work for NGOs (non-governmental organizations) on a full basis:  Social power: the ability to change things in ways small and large which NGOs embody. Social conscience: the sense of responsibility for right and wrong in our society. Social Entrepreneurship: the establishment of business principles in civil society organizations but not for-personal gain.

The difference today compared to 1948 is that heroic leaders of NGOs no longer    seem to be swimming against the tide of history as Beveridge saw it. The ‘driving power of social conscience’ is once again I think at the heart of our society. And what is termed as social entrepreneurship is the engine of this social conscience ensuring that we are not only dealing in words but also action in a sustainable and long term manner.

The award that Nature Seychelles has recently won embodies the spirit of social entrepreneurship – not for personal profit but for the direct benefit of the society. Nature Seychelles has been recognized as the organization with the most entrepreneurial approach to education in Seychelles in 2011 winning the country award for the Educating Africa Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education for 2011.

Over 350 entries from all over Africa were received by the organizers, Educating Africa and Teach a Man to Fish. This unique competition identifies and celebrates the achievements of social entrepreneurs who understand the role education can play within their communities. Nature Seychelles was invited to enter its Green Health Programme, which teaches people to connect with nature through wellness and healthy lifestyles in natural surroundings. The same programme won the International Innovation Prize from the World Leisure Organization not too long ago.

I believe that the best way to promote protection of the environment is to get people to value nature. I have been involved in implementing environmental programs that provide values of one kind or another to various groups over the years. Recently we have focused on linking nature to people’s physical and mental well being. Once again we have won an international award for these efforts.

Nirmal Shah

This post first appeared in the author’s column in The People

On 7 and 14 December, 59 Seychelles Warblers (Timerl dezil, Acrocephalus sechellensis) were transferred from Cousin Island Special Reserve to Fregate Island Private thanks to a Nature Seychelles-led initiative. The transfer was carried out to start a new breeding population on Fregate Island, making it the fifth island in Seychelles to hold this charming little bird with a story that reads like a fairy tale. The  operation involved a team from Nature Seychelles, the Seychelles Warbler Research Group,  and Fregate Island and the activity was funded by Disney Conservation Fund project  to Nature Seychelles. Birds were transferred using what is called the “hard release” method;  they were captured in the morning, transferred by Helicopter Seychelles and were released on Fregate by afternoon of the same day.  Read more about the translocation on our website: The most amazing conservation success story in Seychelles

David Wright was part of the translocation team.  Here he tells us what it was like to be part of this exciting conservation endeavour.

I’m a PhD student from UEA, in the UK, studying conservation genetics of the warbler. Am part of the Seychelles Warbler Research Group – a collaboration between the universities of East Anglia and Sheffield in the UK and University of Groningen in the Netherlands and working with Nature Seychelles for a number of years. The translocation of these special little birds to Frégate Island has been a fantastic opportunity for me to get involved directly in conservation at every stage of the process. It has enabled me to fulfil a lifelong ambition working in conservation.

My role has involved working both on Cousin, monitoring the population before the translocation and catching the birds to be moved, and on Frégate during and after their release. Working on a small tropical island is wonderful but often difficult; hiking up and down hills, scrambling over glacis and through mangroves in the tropical heat, carrying 45 mist nets and poles for catching birds around the island, with the ever hungry mosquitoes trying their best to drain you of blood…

Definitely not the ‘tropical holiday’ my friends back home thought it was! However, it’s not all hard work, and sitting on the beach watching the sunset with a cool drink in your hand is worth a million mosquito bites. The Seychelles is a beautiful place to work, particularly nature reserves like Cousin which offer such amazing wildlife experiences that it can be difficult to remember you have a job to do!

One of the main highlights of the translocation for me was the helicopter transfers to Frégate. What an amazing place to take your first ever helicopter flight! Seeing the coral reefs, the islands of Praslin, La Digue, Felicité and Marianne looming up from the turquoise blue ocean, Frégate island hazy in the distance awaiting the arrival of its new inhabitants – it’s a view I won’t forget in a hurry!

Dave releasing a warbler on Fregate courtesy of Paul Nixon

Releasing the birds during a translocation is perhaps one of the most fulfilling parts of the process and being directly involved in that was truly an honour. All the months of planning and hard work were worth seeing each and every warbler shoot out from its transportation box and into its new forest home.

From my experience during the translocation, I’d say the key ingredient is having a good, knowledgeable team. It’s critical you can work together and rely on each other, focussing your skills and effort to achieve your objectives. Being part of this fantastic translocation team is something I am really proud of and will look back on in years to come. Everyone brings their unique attributes and skills to the group and you really feel a part of something special. Overall, the translocation has been a phenomenal experience; the excitement, fun, anxiety, stress, hard work, sense of fulfilment and achievement – it’s been an emotional rollercoaster and an opportunity of a lifetime to be involved in something positive for conservation.

The translocation team on Cousin by Dave Wright

Iona and the tropicbird

We often receive injured or lost birds picked up by concerned members of the public. Recently, someone brought a white-tailed tropicbird juvenile which they had found. Although it was quite big it was unable to fly and so it could not go out to look for food. Riaz, our science coordinator took it home to look after it until it could fly. But he had to leave Mahe and go to Cousin Island for a few days and the bird couldn’t fly yet, so he recruited Martin, our community person, and his children to do the job while he was away. Let’s pick up this story from Iona, Martin’s daughter….

Dad came home from work on Friday afternoon with a box which had ‘bird inside be careful’ written on the top. When Dad stopped moving a bird’s head popped out. It was white with a black and white beak and speckly black bits. I got to hold it on my knee while we drove to a fish stall to get some fish for it. Dad said someone had brought it into his work in a box and we got to take it home to look after it for a few days. When we looked inside we saw the bird had a white body with black speckles. We gave it some fish but it wasn’t very interested, so we left it in the corner of the dining room. This morning we heard a lot of noise from the box and it was trying to spread its wings out so we got a bigger box and gently tipped it in.

Guess what I just did… can you gess? No? ok I’ll tell you, I HAND FED THE BIRD!!!!! well, I held the bird (the bird is called a white tailed tropic bird) while dad held the beak open and Sophie fed it. We have to force feed it because it’s a baby and we have to teach it to fly too! I bet dad is thinking “I wish I hadn’t taken that bird home”. Dad thought he would have to give it some fish and it would fly away. We also have to feed it 4 times a day. this is how to hand feed a tropic bird in 5 simpe stages; 1, mash up some fish or squid with some water and put on a plate. 2, gently grab the bird directly down and tuck your thumbs under it’s head. 3, then you wrap it in a old tea towel. 4, you take 3 people one to hold the bird firmly, the other to hold open the beak ( don’t break the beak.) and the last to shove the food down it’s throat, then the 2nd to close the beak. 5, if the bird shakes it’s head it could get very messy, but if it puts it head back and looks likes it’s choking it’s swallowing. repeat until the plate is empty.

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Martin and the children also left Mahe before the juvenile flew, so they brought it back to the office to be looked after by other staff here. After a couple of days we took it down to the beach next to our office and off it went. Sadly Iona wasn’t here to see it, but she was happy with this ending. Thanks Iona!

Turtle program on Cousin started in 1972 (Herve Chelle)

Last week I was on Cousin Island Special Reserve, with a group of visitors on a guided tour of the island. On the beach we watched as a hawksbill turtle made its short journey back to the sea from laying her eggs. Laborious on land, but effortless in the sea, the hawksbill turtle lays more than 100 eggs into a small pit dug in the sand.

The Seychelles in general and Cousin Island in particular is a great place to be a turtle. Every year around this time, hundreds of female hawksbill turtles will arrive on one of our beaches to nest. The archipelago provides key nesting and feeding areas for the critically endangered hawksbill and is home to the largest remaining population in the Western Indian Ocean. This population, sea turtle experts have said recently, is among the twelve healthiest sea turtle populations globally.

A report produced by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG) has revealed the most threatened and most healthiest of all sea turtles (there are 7 species) populations globally. It is the first comprehensive status assessment of all sea turtles. See this story here.

It shows that the hawksbill turtles populations in the Southwestern Indian Ocean (Seychelles, British and French Overseas Territories) and in Southeast Indian Ocean and Southwest Pacific Ocean (Australia) are the healthiest. But Hawksbill are threatened in the East Pacific Ocean, East Atlantic Ocean, Northeastern Indian Ocean, and West Pacific Ocean.

The report says that the most significant threats to sea turtles are fisheries bycatch, accidental catches of sea turtles by fishermen targeting other species, and the direct harvest of turtles or their eggs for food or turtle shell for commercial use. The healthiest populations are large and currently facing relatively low threats.

Hawksbill turtles were heavily exploited for many years in Seychelles, mainly for their shell. In 1994 a law that granted them complete protection was passed and harvesting was completely banned, although occasional poaching still occurs.

Turtle conservation is carried out on many islands. One of conservation’s success stories for the hawksbill turtle has been registered on Cousin Island, where a long-term monitoring programme started in 1972 is firmly established.

• Map of the 11 most Threatened Sea Turtle Populations2.81MB

• Map of The 12 Healthiest Sea Turtle Populations2.90MB

DEET confuses Mozzies

“Cousin  island is a MUST see – mozzies or not” said Varun Sharma the host of  Inside  Luxury  Travel, a TV program aired to millions around  the world. Mosquitoes on Cousin Island Special Reserve are particularly voracious this year. Swarms even follow people to the boats as they board to leave! It’s a huge problem because we cannot spray the air or water bodies with chemicals as that would destroy a large part of the ecosystem. Insect species as well as the endangered birds eating them would be devastated.

Visitors to Cousin are warned beforehand to carry personal mosquito repellent, But many arriving on this award-winning nature reserve still find that they are bitten. Basically, their repellent just does not work. As a result Nature Seychelles has had to distribute free repellent containing a substance called DEET. This is the best deterrent against the “pesky mozzies”.

When applied to the skin’s surface, DEET drives away mozzies looking for a free lunch (or dinner). But it can also keep the insects from ever getting close enough to land. Scientists have not really understood how the chemical works.  It was always thought that DEET was effective because it was repulsive or toxic to mosquitoes.

Now, a newly published paper in the prestigious journal Nature has shown that DEET is so successful because it works by targeting a mosquito’s sense of smell.

“The effects of DEET are not straightforward,” Maurizio Pellegrino, one of the authors  of the  paper, told the on line magazine Science News. “We think the insect doesn’t know exactly what it is smelling.” Pellegrino is a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley.

Mosquitoes and other insects don’t have noses. They have receptors on their antennae that can pick up the chemical signature of a smell in the air. These receptors send information about the smell to the brain by way of nerve signals.

The study showed that these receptors are affected by DEET. The nerve cells sent different signals to the brain depending on whether DEET was detected alone or together with other scents.  The repellant also affected the insects’’ ability to detect other smells. As a result DEET somehow corrupts the nerve signal sent to the brain. That means DEET doesn’t necessarily drive mosquitoes away— it just confuses them so much that they fly away, says Science News.

“It’s as if you are hungry and you love hamburgers,” Pellegrino says. “If DEET is present, it doesn’t smell like hamburger anymore, even if a hamburger is right in front of you.”   So be warned – if you are visiting a mosquito infested area make sure your repellant contains DEET.

Nirmal Shah. This post first appeared in the Author’s column in the People.

Ringing is delicate work and ringers need training (Dieter Oschadleus)

From 18-23 September 2011 Dieter Oschadleus from SAFRING (South African Bird Ringing Unit) was on Cousin Island Special Reserve conducting training on ringing birds for the island’s wardens. Ringing and releasing birds is delicate work and ringers need skill and experience.The training was mostly on mist-netting of seabirds and land birds, a method used in bird ringing. A total of 478 birds were caught and ringed including recaptures. Riaz Aumeeruddy, Nature Seychelles Science and Conservation Coordinator was at the training and we took the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Following are his answers.

Why do we ring birds?

There are different reasons for ringing birds. One is to be able to identify birds individually in a population, usually using a combination of different coloured rings. This is what is done on Cousin with the endemic Seychelles magpie robin and the Seychelles warbler, where each bird is colour ringed. Usually most ringing programs involve only putting a metal ring with a unique ID on one of the legs of a bird. This will allow, if the bird is recaptured, to get information on its movement (on the island itself or inter-island), on its longevity (eg. a Seychelles fody ringed in 2002 on Cousin was recaptured during the training course, showing the the bird lives at least 9 years, information on the longevity of the Seychelles fody has never been published before) and social associations. Bird ringing can help answer a number of questions relating to causes and factors contributing to population movement, dynamics and behaviour.

Which types of birds do we ring?

On Cousin, we systematically ring two species of land-birds: the magpie robins which are ringed by the Cousin staff, and the Seychelles warblers that are ringed by the scientists from the warbler research group. Ideally all the birds of these two species are ringed, to know the exact population, and the territories in which they live on the island. Other landbirds are ringed for specific projects; the Seychelles fody was ringed on Cousin by a student who was doing her PhD on that species. Some species of seabirds are also ringed on Cousin, for example the White-tailed tropicbird and the Lesser Noddy are ringed during study of their breeding success (parents and chicks are ringed when they are on the nest).

A ringed Seychelles warbler (L, Cas Eikenaar) and magpie robin (R, Glenn Jackaway)

What do the different colors mean?

Colour rings are used in a unique combination (2-3 rings) which helps identify each bird. For the  magpie robin, 1 colour ring is attached to the right leg to identify the island (eg. Cousin uses a Red ring) so if a bird flies from one island to the other, we can know from which island it is from, and 2 colour rings are attached to the left leg to identify the bird. With this system, the whole genealogy of a bird can be determined. For the warblers, 1 colour ring is used to identify the year the bird is ringed, and 2 colour rings for identifying the bird.

What was the outcome of the exercise

Four wardens, the science officer and myself attended the training course. All the participants received certificates. We need to thank Dieter Oschadleus from SAFRING for conducting the training, and the warbler team (Martijn Hammers, David Wright and Sjouke Ann Kingma) for their assistance during the course.

The Lesser noddy was the most ringed species (Dieter Oschadleus)

Thanks Riaz.

Dieter has also reported on this ringing exercise here and has provided a table of the species and numbers ringed.

Children from the President's village at the Heritage Garden

Children love being outdoors. Playing is great and is a chance to explore outside of the boundaries of the home. Not only is it fun for the kids, it’s good for them too. Scientists have discovered that children function better cognitively and emotionally in ‘green environments’, that is places with nature vegetation, than those without.  No wonder that a study of urban children discovered that 96% of them illustrated outdoor places when asked to make a map or drawing of all their favourite place.

Conversely, a lack of routine contact with nature can be detrimental to children’s health and may result in stunted academic and developmental growth. This condition has been termed Nature Deficit Disorder by author Richard Louv in his book Last Child in the Woods. Louv says we have entered a new era of city- centred life that restricts outdoor play, in conjunction with a plugged-in culture that draws kids indoors. But, Louv argues that, the agrarian, nature-oriented existence hard-wired into human brains isn’t quite ready for the overstimulating environment we’ve carved out for ourselves. Some children adapt, but those who don’t develop symptoms including attention problems, obesity, anxiety, and depression.

Nature Seychelles’ Sanctuary at Roche Caiman is a great local green space which we use to tackle this problem head-on. Many children have visited and enjoyed the benefits of being outdoors. The most recent was a group of twenty-five children from the Presidents Village who were brought by local company Applebys Corporate Service Limited to enjoy a taste nature last weekend.

The children were taken on a tour of the nature reserve by Martin Varley, Community and Stakeholder Action Co-ordinator, where they had chance to watch wildlife at first hand and also take part in some fun games with strong environmental messages. They were also taken round the adjacent Heritage Garden which showcases a diverse range of traditionally grown Seychelles fruit, vegetables and medicinal herbs.

The experience on the reserve formed the basis of the second part of the visit which was led by Green Health Co-ordinator Robin Hanson, who used the animals on the reserve as a platform for a special natural exercise class for the children, another form of recreation with proven health and wellbeing benefits. The weather stayed kind and at the end of the morning the children were buzzing with excitement about their visit.

“We all know how good it is to be outside,” said Nature Seychelles CEO Nirmal Shah, “Kids are healthier and happier and with a good dose of exercise they can be stronger too. It’s great to be able to work with a local company like Appleby’s to provide a break for these kids from the President’s Village and show then what we have here at Roche Caiman. Everyone is a winner”.

We may not be able to prevent our children from suffering the impacts of our changing society, but it’s good to know that the remedy is close at hand.

This post first appeared in the Today in Seychelles newspaper.

Giant Tortoise on Cousin beach © Martin Harvey

The News that the oldest living animal in the world, thought to be a giant tortoise who lives on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, originated from the Seychelles excited many here last week.

The Telegraph reported that Jonathan is the sole survivor of three tortoises that arrived on St Helena Island in 1882 from the Seychelles. He was already mature when he arrived and was at least 50 years old, therefore his minimum age is estimated to be 178 years old.

Another giant tortoise, an Aldabra Giant Tortoise that died in 2006 in the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata, India, and whose approximate age was later determined through carbon dating to be 255, was the previous oldest living tortoise  and was also from Seychelles. Adwaita, the pet of a general of the British East India Company,  was captured by British seafarers from the Seychelles and taken to India.

People have always been fascinated by giant tortoises. Even today, their gentle ET-like demeanour, slow lumber and the fact that they will submit to a petting without too much fuss makes them a popular attraction on islands where they have been introduced like Cousin Island Special Reserve. Aldabra Giant Tortoises roam freely around Cousin and the larger ones can usually be found on the beach in the early morning. George, Cousin’s oldest tortoise,  and Kasban, who hangs out near the visitor shelter, are among the favourites and are possibly some of the most photographed tortoises in the world!

The Cousin population was introduced in the past. When the island was sold to ICBP (now BirdLife International) there were several tortoises and they were included in the sale price of the island. They were originally kept impounded in a stone-walled tortoise enclosure of about 2 acres in size until they were released in 1980. In 2000, 6 females were purchased and brought to the Reserve in an adventure filled journey. Now they live free, enjoying a diverse vegetarian diet that includes noni fruits (fruits of the Indian mulberry tree, bwa torti). Perhaps that’s why they live for so long and seem to be full of energy.

Aldabra Giant Tortoises are endemic to the Seychelles. An estimated one hundred thousand of them live in the wild of the Aldabra Atoll, and several hundreds have been introduced to various islands of Seychelles including Curieuse, Fregate and Cousin. They are also widely kept in captivity. But tortoises were nearly wiped out. As an important food source for seafarers visiting Indian Ocean islands in the 17th to 19th centuries, they were hunted, captured and stored for meat on ships. This exploitation, the destruction of habitat and the introduction of predators decimated the populations, with the exception of those on the Aldabra Atoll.

Giant tortoises are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in the IUCN (World Conservation Union) list of endangered species and their international trade is restricted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).