Cousin (island)
| cousin | ||
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| Waters | Indian Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Seychelles | |
| Geographical location | 4 ° 21 '2 " S , 55 ° 38' 51" E | |
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| surface | 25 ha | |
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The island of Cousine belongs to the Seychelles archipelago in the western Indian Ocean . The only 25 hectare island is about 6 km west of the island of Praslin and right next to the uninhabited island of Cousin .
history
Cousine was discovered by European sailors in the 18th century and settled by French colonizers from 1787 . The cats and dogs brought in by these settlers quickly decimated the native, sometimes endemic, animal species. The establishment of tobacco and coconut plantations led to a dramatic decline in the native flora , which further decimated the native fauna. Most species practically died out on cousins over the decades.
In 1992 a businessman from South Africa bought the island, gave up the plantation economy and set out to restore the island to its original state. The new owner started a renaturation program for this purpose . First of all, the imported domestic animals such as cats and chickens were caught and relocated to the neighboring island of Praslin. At the same time, the extermination of almost all non-indigenous plants (tobacco, coffee plants , chilli , cinnamon , bamboo ) that had been introduced during the course of European settlement began. Although the coconut palm is not actually native to the Seychelles, a few specimens have been left to cousins. Thousands of saplings of native tree species (such as Morinda , Pisonia , Ochrosia ) were replanted.
Wildlife
Native birds such as the extremely rare Seychelles dajal and the Seychelles weaver were brought to Cousin from the island of Frégate . The Seychelles reed warbler was settled by Cousin. Other species like the tropical white-tailed bird and the fairy tern returned on their own.
Several specimens of the Seychelles giant tortoise ( Dipsochelys hololissa ) live and reproduce on cousins . The endangered hawksbill sea turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) also lays its eggs on Cousin's beach .
tourism
To finance the renaturation project, a small exclusive bungalow hotel complex was built on Cousin. A maximum of eight guests can stay here at the same time. The hotel manager is also responsible - together with an ornithologist - for the restoration, conservation and care of the island's flora and fauna.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jan Komdeur: Conserving the Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus Sechellensis by Translocation from Cousin Island to the Islands of Aride and Cousine . In: Biological Conservation 67, 1994, pp. 143-152.
