Welcome to my travel pages!
Expedition to Round Island? Ok, the title is a bit out of date. But as I discovered now, really only a bit. Still in 1998 a student wrote that due to harsh environmental conditions and other factors Round Island is an extremely difficult place to carry out a study of considerable duration. Until 2000, visitors to the island lived in tents for a week. But even with the field station that exists now, it’s an adventure to be in such a remote place with such a breathtaking, but harsh nature. What has not changed, is that access to the island is only by permit.
Round Island is a haven for endangered plant and animal species that are unique (endemic) to Mauritius. In fact, there are more unique species of plants and animals on Round Island than there are on any equivalent area on earth. Just 22 km off the northern coast of Mauritius, Round Island harbours what used to be typical on Mauritius itself before settlement started.
Round Island has the biggest remnant of lowland palm-rich forest in whole Mascarene Archipelago (the three islands of Reunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues). Four of the seven reptile species on Round Island cannot be found anywhere else! This includes Guenther’s gecko and the even rarer Keel-scaled boa. As if that is not enough, Round Island is also an important breeding site for seabirds. Round Island is managed by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and one of the many project to save the native Mauritian wildlife.
And on this miraculously unspoilt island I got to do my masters on Guenther’s gecko (or Round Island Day Gecko). These are gorgeous animals which have kept most of their secrets because they are active at night and are well camouflaged. With this study we hope to find out more about them.
If YOU want to find out more about Round Island or the Mauritian Wildlife, go to www.mauritian-wildlife.org.
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