Mauritius

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about 20 kilograms (44 lb), living on fruit and nesting on the ground.

Mauritius, is an island nation off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the Republic includes the islands of Cargados Carajos, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands. Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 200 km (120 mi) to the southwest and the island of Rodrigues 570 km (350 mi) to the northeast.

Ethnically, the majority of the population is Indian and there are also many people of African descent on the island and there are also European and Chinese minorities. It is the only African nation where the largest religion is Hinduism although Christianity and Islam also have significant populations.

The island of Mauritius is renowned for having been the only known home of the dodo. First sighted by Europeans around 1600 on Mauritius, the dodo became extinct less than eighty years later.

Wildlife

A high proportion of Mauritius' wildlife 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.

Flora

About 670 native species of flowering plant are found in Mauritius and nearly half of these are endemic. Rainforest formerly covered most of the island with palm savannah in drier regions and areas of heathland in the mountains. Most of this natural vegetation has been destroyed and what remains is threatened by the spread of introduced plants.

The national flower of Mauritius is Trochetia boutoniana or "boucle d'oreille" which is now restricted to a single mountain. Native trees include the Mauritius ebony (Diospyros tesselaria), takamaka (Calophyllum tacamahaca) and various palms. Introduced plants that have become invasive include "Chinese" (actually Brazilian) guava (Psidium littorale) and Lantana camara. Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra) and frangipani (Plumeria alba) are among the most commonly planted ornamental species.

Marine life

Coral reefs are found around most of the Mauritian coastline, most of the coral life in the ring reef and lagoons has been destroyed due to the practice of dynamite fishing which was allowed up to the seventies. The fish life in the lagoons and seas around most of the villages and towns is virtually non existent due to overfishing by the locals who utilise any form of device to catch any marine protein, fish are landed irrespective of size or in the case of lobsters whether the females have berries. The lobster population has been decimated to the extent that lobsters are now imported from Madagascar.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

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