The Mauritius kestrel, the pink pigeon and the echo parakeet are examples of one of the most successful conservation programmes on an island long associated with the most famous extinction in history: that of the dodo more than 300 years ago.

Today the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), with its pragmatic approach, is determinedly making up for past thoughtlessness by working to bring back its endangered native wildlife from the brink of extinction.

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.

International interest in Mauritius took off with a report by the chairman of the WWF, Sir Peter Scott, in 1973. That same year the Peregrine Fund in America became involved, using techniques first developed to save the peregrine falcon. Later, Gerald Durrell’s Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust (now the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust) started sponsoring conservation programmes on Mauritius, Round Island and Rodrigues.

As a result of this activity, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation was formed and now works closely with the Mauritian Government and other partners. Bird conservation has led to the MWF restoring native forest and plant species on Ile aux Aigrettes, Rodrigues and Round Island.

Carl Jones, scientific director of MWF, went to Mauritius in 1979 to save the kestrel from the same plight as the dodo. Today, in Lost Land of the Dodo, he says: “Work on Mauritius and Rodrigues has concentrated on captive management and species-oriented approaches, which has developed into habitat conservation. The kestrel, the parakeet and the pigeon have acted as flagship species from which broader actions have sprung.

“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.”

Mauritius timeline

1958: New constitution – all adults aged over 21 can vote.

1959: First elections under universal adult suffrage won by Dr Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.

March 12, 1968: Independence

1969: Opposition Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) founded, advocates socialism. Led by Paul Bérenger, who became the first nonHindu premier in 2003.

July 2005: Navinchandra Ramgoolam, pictured right, meeting India’s L.K. Advani, returns as the Prime Minister.

Source: BBC