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It’s not just mainland Africa we focus on, we also love to include the Indian Ocean. There is utter magic to be found out on the water as well as inland. Water safaris are wonderful to get a totally different perspective of our beautiful world, a marine safari combines very well with a normal safari! We thought it would be a good idea to fill you in with some of the wonderful news updates we have received about conservation projects, wildlife news and lots of other information to keep you up to date.
In June and July, a Conservation and Sustainability team has been very busy with the census of the Seychelles Magpie Robin resident on Fregate Island. The conservationists visit every single territory where birds have been located before. Using a recorded bird call or imitating themselves, the team try and attract the individuals to get close enough to be able to see the number or colour of rings on the bird’s leg. They have confirmed 185 individuals that have been counted, which is excellent news. Fregate Island was the only remaining habitat of the Seychelles Magpie Robin. This bird was very nearly extinct with only a head count of 14 30 years ago. These charming and very charismatic birds have since been restored to a very healthy population by the permanent on-island conservation staff.
The Lesser Noddy nesting colony is also back on the island. This specific colony is very large with the trees being chocka full of nests. The birds are busy collecting nesting material from the ground and every leaf that falls off a tree has been chased by a Noddy. At the beginning of July, the first chicks were sighted as having hatched.
Unfortunately, these birds are not very talented when it comes to engineering their nests and the strong winds that hit the island do not help! At times when the wind was very strong, it was as though it were raining birds!
As well as these positive conservation stories, there are also saving wildlife stories to back these up. A lesser Noddy was discovered by one of the guests with its beak being tangled quite tightly with fishing line, the bird was de-tangled and the Noddy was then released back to the sky. There was also a baby Aldabra Giant Tortoise discovered with some carapace damage. The Tortoise was found by one of the staff at Fregate Island. The team named the tortoise Barcardi and it is now recovering well under the expert care of the conservationist team.
The battle to keep Fregate Island safe from invasive species is an ongoing effort. Constantly checking on animals and plants that aren’t endemic to this beautiful island and its sensitive eco-system. One of those invasive species is the Myna Bird. There is a Myna Bird trap has been placed and the conservationists managed to capture 12 birds in total.
If you would like to plan your trip to this wonderful part of the Indian Ocean, then please do get in contact with us, we are dying to start planning your adventure away.