Pink Pigeon
This was my main reason for wanting to visit Mauritius! After first reading about Pink Pigeons through Gerald Durell's books, I just had to come & see it for myself. It was not a disappointment, this bird is huge & very engaging.
What a bird!
I nearly left it too late though as the entire population reached a terrible low of just nine birds in 1990's! It was on the very brink of extinction. Thankfully the Durrell Foundation came to the rescue & through captive breeding & feeding upon release programs.
Today, the population is thought to be over 500 birds & certainly we saw them in several places.
The main threat to this species was feral cats & loss of habitat. It requires native forest & Mauritius has suffered terribly with lots of alien plants being introduced.
This species has now recovered from being critically endangered to endangered & today to vulnerable status. It is a thirty year conservation success story. Brilliant!
The main threat to this species was feral cats & loss of habitat. It requires native forest & Mauritius has suffered terribly with lots of alien plants being introduced.
This species has now recovered from being critically endangered to endangered & today to vulnerable status. It is a thirty year conservation success story. Brilliant!
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