Mauritius - Ile aux Aigrettes Island, the history - Part 2

Ile aux Aigrettes, once a forgotten part of Mauritius, eaten by weeds and invaded by rats has now started to regain its resources. This islet of Mauritius had been a land enough to overwhelm anyone by its tremendous beauty. Indigenous plants and various types of birds, now become rare, made Ile aux Aigrettes, a 26 hectares mass of land, a place that discovery could have much coveted.

But during the course of time, Ile aux Aigrettes became the victim of natural catastrophes. The island was caught by weeds which choked off its native plants. Then rats made their apparition and fed on fruits that grew all over this part of Mauritius . Consequently, this greatly affected the ecosystem of the island thus causing an imbalance within all its elements. Plants such as the Ebony could not populate due to rats. Animals, seeing the degradation in their habitat eventually started to disappear. Fortunately, the MWF took the island on lease from the Government of Mauritius with the aim to start a restoration project.

Today, the islet belonging to Mauritius stands like a land reborn. Practically all the elements that once formed the ecosystem of Ile aux Aigrettes may have been gradually reunited. The weeds and rats have as well been eliminated. This can be all due to the efforts done by the professionals of the MWF. During the year 1997, the MWF introduced a nursery on the island for the production of endangered plants. This nursery may now produce around 30,000 plants each year. Most of them may be planted on this part of Mauritius during the rainy seasons. Until now, around 20 endangered species of plants may have been planted on the island. These may also include the most endangered Round Island Bottle Palm and the Round Island Hurricane Palm.

Moreover, many animals that long ago existed on the island may have been reintroduced. As such, during the year 1994, the Pink Pigeon was left on Ile aux Aigrettes to add up to the ecosystem. Nowadays, after much hard work, there may be around 75 Pink Pigeons on the island. The islet of Mauritius , Ile aux Aigrettes, can be considered as the only place in the world where a population of Pink Pigeons can be seen in the wild. Additionally, approximately 200 years in the past, Mauritius had 2 species of endemic tortoises. These became extinct as man exploited Mauritius and hence depleted the whole reserve of these animals. So, in the year 2000, around 18 Giant Aldabran Tortoises were released on Ile aux Aigrettes to replace their predecessors.

For research purposes, exotic animals had been introduced on the island. These include the Indian Wolfsnake and the Giant African land snails among others. These have been noticed to affect certain native animals. As a matter of fact, means are being calculated to remove the exotic specimens form this part of Mauritius .

As seen, this region of Mauritius is being slowly regenerated. After the reconstruction of the ecosystem, Ile aux Aigrettes could become one of the best places to visit in Mauritius.

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