Bird Island (Seychelles)
| Bird Island | ||
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| Waters | Indian Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Seychelles | |
| Geographical location | 3 ° 43 '15 " S , 55 ° 12' 23" E | |
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| length | 1.4 km | |
| width | 800 m | |
| surface | 82 ha | |
| Highest elevation | 4 m | |
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Bird Island ( French Île aux Vaches ) is the northernmost island of the Seychelles . It is located around 100 km from the main island of Mahé and is one of the so-called " Northern Coral Islands ". The island is very young. It originated less than 4000 years ago.
The 0.82 km² large coral island was discovered in 1756 and is still home to numerous species of sea birds and sea turtles . Many dugongs were once seen there , which explains the French name Île aux Vaches (English: "Island of (sea) cows").
Because of the abundance of birds, over 17,000 tons of guano could be mined between 1896 and 1905 and exported to Mauritius to fertilize the sugar cane fields there.
Bird Island was bought by Guy Savy in 1967 and is privately owned. Guy Savy has dedicated himself to ecotourism and has rebuilt the population of sooty terns, which has been reduced to around 17,000 breeding pairs. In January 2016 he put the management of the island and the lodge he founded in the hands of his sons Nicholas ("Nick") and Alex. Around 750,000 pairs of sooty terns and the rare fairy tern nest on the island from May to October . In addition, the allegedly oldest, largest and heaviest turtle Esmeralda lives on the island, weighing 300 kg and at least 170 years old. Today the island is used both for tourism and for scientific purposes ( weather station ). By BirdLife International will as since 2001. Important Bird Area reported (SC0501).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Bird Island . BirdLife International, accessed December 18, 2015
See also
Web links
- Information about Bird Island (German) ( Memento from November 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive )