MAURITIAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION is currently looking for suitably qualified staff to work as Field Officers on the following Recovery Projects:
• Pink Pigeon (ref: pp)
• Echo Parakeet (ref: ep)
• Olive White Eye (ref: owe)
• Mauritius Fody (ref: fody)

Profile: A degree in Biological Sciences & a genuine interest in Conservation.

Send CV to
Executive Director, (mentioning ref.,)
MWF,
Grannum Road,
Vacoas.

Email: executive@mauritian-wildlife.org

Closing date: 6th March 2009

Last update: 20 February 2009

The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation celebrates the 100th Mauritius Fody on Ile aux Aigrettes on the 20th of February in the presence of its local supporters namely: the British High Commission, the HSBC, the National Parks & Conservation Service & Sun Resorts.


The Critically Endangered Mauritius Fody or “Cardinal de Maurice’’ is unique to Mauritius and, until recently, was only found in the South of the Black River Gorges National Park. There was an alarming decline in numbers from 260 pairs in 1974 to just 93 pairs in 2003. This decline prompted the MWF to initiate a recovery program in 2003 to help save this endemic bird from extinction. Ile aux Aigrettes is a predator free island and therefore a subpopulation of this bird can be re-established under the best conditions. The Passerine Recovery Team has worked closely with the remaining wild birds, monitoring breeding attempts and rescuing any nests that were at risk from predation. The eggs and chicks from these nests were hand reared at the Gerald Durrell Endemic Wildlife Sanctuary (Black River) and along with captive-bred birds transferred to Ile aux Aigrettes. Between 2003 and 2006, 56 birds were released onto Ile aux Aigrettes. This has proven to be one of the most successful bird re-introductions on Mauritius and even internationally. At present, there is an established breeding population of 132 birds. In order to learn more about this bird and plan a long-term management strategy to safeguard it’s future, several studies have been set up in collaboration with international stakeholders.


Thanks to our local supporters: The British High Commission, HSBC & Sun Resorts, international funding has been secured for the Mauritius Fody Programme by the following international organisations: (in alphabetic order)
• Chester Zoo – UK
• Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
• Earth Watch
• Ruth Smart Foundation

The Critically Endangered Mauritius Olive White-eye or ‘‘Oiseau à lunettes’’ is the least known of all native passerine species. A recent survey in 2001 showed that there was around 100 pairs remaining and most of these were found in an upland area of less than 25 km2 in the South-east of the Black River Gorges National Park. An intensive management plan was implemented in 2005 where the remaining wild population was closely monitored to find nesting attempts and take behavioural observations. Where possible, nests that were at risk from predation were rescued and the eggs and chicks taken to our hand-rearing facility at the Gerald Durrrell Endemic Wildlife Sanctuary, Black River.


Following the successful translocation and establishment of a breeding sub-population of Mauritius Fodies on Ile aux Aigrettes, the MWF initiated a trial release of Olive White- Eye on this predator-free islet. On the 9th of December 2006 the MWF re-introduced the first Olive White-eyes on to Ile aux Aigrettes. A total of 16 rescued birds will be released onto the island this season and the team will be closely following these birds to continue to learn more about this unique species. So far the results have been promising with birds seen foraging in the native island flora and attempting to build nests.


Thanks to our local supporters: Gamma Civic, N. Boulle and the National Parks Conservation Service international funding has been secured for the Olive White-eye programme by the following international organisations: (in alphabetic order)

• Birdfair Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
• Chester Zoo – UK
• Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
• Ruth Smart Foundation - UK

Last update: 17 April 2007

The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation carried out the endemic species releases on Saturday 9th December 2006.

These included:

1. Re-introduction of the critically endangered Round Island Telfair’s Skink
2. Re-introduction of the critically endangered Mauritius Olive White-eye
3. Planting of rare endemic plants

Last update: 17 April 2007

Under the banner ‘Together We Save The Mauritius Fody’, the staff of HSBC will collaborate with the
MWF Passerine Recovery Team through different awareness campaigns. Sandeep Uppal, CEO of HSBC
(Mauritius) & Chairman of the CSR Committee, says that “!this is an extremely important project as this
partnership will help the Mauritian population to learn more about this bird and ultimately safeguard its very future ” . He however states that such conservation campaigns are long haul projects but says that
engaging the bank’s different stakeholders – customers, shareholders and particularly the staff – can
significantly shift the general perception about saving the environment.

This program is also sponsored by our international partners namely: Ruth Smart Foundation & Chester
Zoo both in the UK. The Mauritius Fody (Foudia rubra) is listed on the list of IUCN as Critically
Endangered.

Last update: 14 September 2007

The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation held a three day workshop at the University of Mauritius 18-20 September 2006. This workshop successfully concluded a three year project awarded to MWF through the UK Darwin Initiative in conjunction with the University of Plymouth, UK and which was coordinated locally by Mr. Saoud Motala.

British entomologists are joining local scientists from MWF and various stakeholder institutions to discuss taxonomic issues on this vital but often neglected group of animals and to brainstorm about future conservation strategies on the group.

‘Mauritius has an incredibly important insect fauna; in beetles alone there are almost 500 species that are found no-where else in the world. We need to monitor these populations and implement conservation strategies now to ensure that they’re not lost forever’ Dr Sarah Donovan, Project leader, University of Plymouth.

Last update: 28 December 2006

Mauritius has suffered the disappearance of a number of unique species. A project was conceived to realise ten extinct creatures and a dodo-foot print. The aim is to draw attention to the tragedy of extinction and the significance of the loss and also to inspire a deeper understanding of the vital need for conservation in Mauritius.

The dodo, the most famous of all extinct birds, was last seen on Mauritius around 1660-1680. Very few remains of the Dodo exist: a handful of skeletons and a few boxes of bones.

This footprint has been modelled from an authentic dodo foot that was in the National History Museum in London. The original foot is now lost but fortunately a very few prints of the foot were made and the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation obtained one of these prints to make this 100% accurate Dodo footprint.

Mauritius & Rodrigues have suffered the disappearance of a number of unique species whose influence would have been considerable upon their relative flora and fauna. A project was conceived to realise extinct creatures live-size and in three-dimensional form using the most thorough archival research and forensic techniques to extrapolate from the meagre remains that still exist.






Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, together with Rungwe Kingdon and Claude Koenig, directors of Britain’s largest sculpture foundry ’Pangolin Editions’, enlisted the help and expertise of Nick Arnold of the Natural History Museum, Erroll Fuller and Julian Pender Hume for the research and interpretation of information. Their conclusions became the raw data that enabled the sculptor Nick Bibby to use his skill and knowledge of natural history to recreate live-size three-dimensional models of the chosen species.

A bronze cast of each is permanently sited on the Ile aux Aigrettes which has become the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation’s conservation showpiece. The island reserve is particularly suitable for this role as it encompasses all aspects of MWF’s work and is relatively accessible to visitors. Inspired from this bronze collection “mini-bronzes” have been made. The aim of the project is to draw attention to the tragedy of extinction and the significance of our loss and also to inspire a deeper understanding of the vital need for conservation. It is hoped the project will enhance the ecological, historical and educational aspects of the island’s resources. Visitors will be able to look closely at and touch life-size representations of extinct native creatures. These sculptures are the most accurate and detailed interpretations of the available evidence and will represent and stand for all those species no longer in existence.

The big bronzes are cast in limited editions of ten. The Mini-bronzes are hand-made in Mauritius and both collections are available for sale. The proceeds will provide funds for the Mauritian Wildlife’s conservation projects.

Last update: 27 December 2006

A Conservation Education workshop was held in June 2007 to assess a different approach to
sensitising school children to the biodiversity of their country and with the aim of encouraging interest in
science. Ninety form 3 pupils from three participating schools were taught botanical drawing, were
introduced to the restoration and conservation work being carried out in Mauritius including a visit to
Montvert Nature Reserve where they practiced their newly acquired skills. Several prizes were
awarded to schools and students. Pupils & teachers declared the workshop to be a resounding
success, having applied new techniques which achieved the aims of the workshop. This activity was a
major component under the project “Information systems for optimized data management” funded by
the Mauritius Research Council.

Last update: 14 September 2007

MAURITIAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION is currently looking for suitably qualified staff to work as Field Officers on the following Recovery Projects:

Pink Pigeon
Echo Parakeet
Passerines
Round Island

Profile of candidate: A degree in Biological Sciences & a genuine interest in Conservation.

Send CV to Executive Director
MWF
Grannum Rd
Vacoas

Email: executive@mauritian-wildlife.org

Last update: 08 May 2008

Publication. Bird Extinctions Prevented

A paper describing the results of conservation programmes & their assessments worldwide based on the status given by the IUCN Red List was published last year. The paper is mentioning a total of 5 Mauritian bird species. 3 species namely: Mauritius kestrel (Falco punctatus), Rodrigues warbler (Acrocephalus rodericanus) & the Rodrigues fody (Foudia flavicans) are species judged likely to have been saved from extinction prior to 1994. The Pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) & the Mauritius parakeet (Psittacula eques) are judged to have likely gone extinct during 1994-2004 if conservation action had not taken place. Even though Mauritius is considered to have the 2nd most endangered biodiversity in the world it is encouraging to know that with the conservation efforts done by MWF & its partners the 5 above mentioned birds have been saved from extinction which ranks Mauritius as no 1 even before the USA & New Zealand who each have saved 4 bird species. However conservation efforts need to continue as the threat of extinction is still present in Mauritius as else where in the world.

(Stuart H.M. Butchart, Alison J. Stattersfield and Nigel J. Collar How Many Bird Extinctions Have We Prevented? 2006 FFI. Oryx. 40(3). 266-278)

Last update: 12 September 2007