Wildlife of Mauritius

Due to its isolation, it has a relatively low diversity of wildlife; however, a high proportion of these are endemic species occurring nowhere else in the world.

Many of these are now threatened with extinction because of human activities including habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species.

[2] Prehistorically, due to its isolated Indian Ocean location to the east of Madagascar, Mauritius had no endemic terrestrial mammals.

[3] The vast majority of mammalian species on the island have been introduced, either inadvertently or intentionally, by humans, such as the crab-eating macaque, rats, mice, Asian house shrew, small Indian mongoose, tailless tenrec, Javan rusa deer, wild boar, Indian hares as well feral dogs and cats and farm livestock, such as domestic ruminants and goats.

Given that they were free from natural predators, they rapidly grew to large numbers and were soon preying on and competing with the local fauna.

[6] By July 2018, the IUCN again ranked the fruit bat, only this time as an endangered species, following the previous years' (2015–2017) government-sanctioned killings.

The Mauritius grey white-eye is the most common of these, being widespread across the island including in man-made habitats.

The others are less common and are mainly restricted to the Black River Gorges National Park in the south-west of the island.

[citation needed] Many small islands are named after birds, although some have seen their seabird colonies reduced or driven extinct by threats such as logging, poachers, or introduced species.

St Brandon islands are home to vast numbers of seabirds (Feare, 1984; Gardiner, 1907; Strauss in litt., 9.7.84).

Blue-faced boobies (Sula dactylatra) are found on Serpent Island and Ile du Nord.

In the President's Report of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation dated March 2016, St Brandon is declared an official MWF project in order to promote the conservation of the atoll.

The mynas were introduced for commercial reasons, primarily to help control the locusts which eat the sugar cane leafage.

Instead, they prey on small indigenous lizards which are easier to catch due to their basking habits which is required for their metabolism.

Because of this, an imbalance is being created with insects which the lizard would prey on which the common myna does not eat due to its inability to crawl under rocks and forage in the dense grass, flora and fauna.

As the largest terrestrial herbivores they performed an important role in the natural Mauritian ecosystem and in the regeneration of forests.

[citation needed] Recently the berri rouge (a hybrid of the blue and Nile tilapia) has been introduced in view of supplementing the diet of the local population in protein.

(There is another theory that gobies do not go to the sea but that their eggs are swept into the ocean by water currents; the larvae swim upstream in great numbers during the new moon.

Mauritian eels, like those from Madagascar, Réunion, Seychelles and East Africa, have their breeding grounds in the Nazareth Trough, an ocean trench situated between longitudes 60-65 °E and latitudes 10-20 °S.

The eggs are swept into the sea by water currents, and on hatching the young are carried into the river or coastal pond by the tides.

[17] The marine fish of Mauritius include holocentrids (Myripristis berndti, Neoniphon sammara, Sargocentron spiniferum and Sargocentron diadema), mullet (Mugil cephalus and Crenimugil crenilabis), rabbitfish (Siganus sutor and Siganus argenteus), groupers (Cephalopholis sonnerati, Cephalopholis argus, Epinephelus fasciatus, Epinephelus hexagonatus, Epinephelus lanceolatus, Epinephelus merra, Epinephelus morio, Epinephelus tukula and Variola louti), seabream (Rhabdosargus sarba), jacks (Caranx ignobilis, Elagatis bipinnulata and Trachinotus baillonii), goatfish (Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, Parupeneus barberinus and Parupeneus cyclostomus), butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus, Chaetodon kleinii, Chaetodon auriga, Hemitaurichthys zoster and Forcipiger flavissimus), Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus), angelfish (Pomacanthus semicirculatus), cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus apogonoides and Cheilodipterus macrodon), emperors (Monotaxis grandoculis, Gnathodentex aureolineatus, Lethrinus mahsena, Lethrinus nebulosus and Lethrinus harak), hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus, Cirrhitops mascarenensis and Paracirrhites forsteri), damsels (Abudefduf sparoides, Abudefduf margariteus, Abudefduf sordidus, Dascyllus abudafur, Pomacentrus pikei, Pomacentrus caeruleus, Stegastes limbatus, Stegastes lividus and Stegastes pelicieri), clownfish (Amphiprion chrysogaster, Amphiprion clarkii and Amphiprion allardi), tangs (Acanthurus nigrofuscus, Acanthurus triostegus, Ctenochaetus striatus, Paracanthurus, Zebrasoma gemmatum and Naso unicornis), snappers (Etelis carbunculus, Etelis coruscans and Lutjanus kasmira), jobfish (Aprion and Pristipomoides filamentosus), parrotfish (Chlorurus cyanescens, Scarus scaber and Scarus ghobban), mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), scombrids (Thunnus albacares, Katsuwonus pelamis and Acanthocybium solandri), barracudas (Sphyraena barracuda and Sphyraena acutipinnis), natal moony (Monodactylus argenteus), boxfish (Ostracion meleagris and Ostracion trachys), pufferfish (Arothron nigropunctatus, Arothron hispidus and Canthigaster valentini), porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix, Diodon liturosus and Diodon holocanthus), triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillum, Balistapus, Pseudobalistes fuscus, Odonus niger, Rhinecanthus aculeatus and Sufflamen chrysopterum), blennies (Alticus monochrus), gobies (Nemateleotris magnifica, Istigobius decoratus and Valenciennea strigata), catfish (Plotosus lineatus), anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis and Pseudanthias evansi), wrasses (Coris aygula, Bodianus anthioides, Bodianus macrourus, Cheilinus trilobatus, Cheilinus chlorourus, Halichoeres hortulanus, Macropharyngodon bipartitus and Labroides dimidiatus), tilefish (Malacanthus latovittatus), fusiliers (Caesio caerulaurea and Caesio teres), eels (Gymnothorax griseus and Myrichthys maculosus), scorpionfish (Pterois antennata, Rhinopias eschmeyeri, Scorpaenopsis cirrosa and Synanceia verrucosa), anglerfish (Antennarius commerson and Antennarius maculatus), seahorses (Hippocampus histrix), cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii), trumpetfish (Aulostomus chinensis), needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus), marlins (Istiompax indica, Makaira mazara, Kajikia audax and Istiophorus platypterus), swordfish (Xiphias gladius), rays (Aetobatus narinari and Mobula alfredi), sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus limbatus, Carcharhinus melanopterus, Galeocerdo cuvier, Rhincodon typus, Sphyrna lewini and Sphyrna mokarran), remoras (Echeneis naucrates and Remora remora) and many more.

Echinoderms include the brittle star (Ophiolepis superba), starfish (Fromia milleporella, Fromia monilis, Nardoa variolata, Culcita schmideliana and Acanthaster planci), urchins (Echinodiscus auritus, Colobocentrotus atratus, Echinometra mathaei, Diadema and Echinothrix diadema) and sea cucumbers (Holothuria leucospilota and Actinopyga echinites).

Cnidarians include the jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri and Thysanostoma loriferum), siphonophores (Physalia physalis and Porpita porpita), anemones (Heteractis magnifica), coral (Acropora, Pocillopora damicornis, Pocillopora eydouxi, Porites lutea, Platygyra daedalea, Galaxea fascicularis and Pavona cactus) and gorgons (Paramuricea and Subergorgia mollis).

[18] Rainforest formerly covered most of the island with palm savannah in drier regions and areas of heathland in the mountains.

The common vacoas sac (Pandanus utilis) of Madagascar has also been introduced and propagated in Mauritius, and it has now naturalised.

The national flower of Mauritius is boucle d'oreille (Trochetia boutoniana), which is now restricted to a single mountain.

Introduced plants that have become invasive include "Chinese" (actually Brazilian) guava (Psidium cattleianum), travellers trees (Ravenala madagascariensis) and Lantana camara.

For the purpose of landscaping and gardening in Mauritius, exotics have traditionally been used, and many of these have spread into the surrounding vegetation.

However, for urban and roadside landscaping Mauritius is beginning to turn to their many varied and unique endemic plant species.

Efforts to preserve native flora and fauna have included captive breeding, habitat restoration and the eradication of introduced species.