Ursula Island Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary
| Ursula Island Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary | |||
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| Location: | Philippines | ||
| Specialty: | Palawan , Lake Sulu | ||
| Next city: | Bataraza | ||
| Surface: | 0.172 km² | ||
| Founding: | April 30, 1970 | ||
The bird sanctuary Ursula Iceland Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary lies 250 km southwest of Puerto Princesa , the capital of the province of Palawan , the Philippines . It was established on April 30, 1970 when Presidential Decree 14 came into force.
The Ursula Island Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary is a combined hunting and bird sanctuary located approximately 20 km off the coast of Brooke's Point community . The approximately 17.2 hectare island is administered by the municipality of Bataraza . The vegetation on the island consists of lowland rainforests and there are extensive mangrove forests on the coast . The island could be visited by tourists and locals until 2003, since then Ursula Island has been closed to the public. The measure was justified with the disturbance of the breeding pairs nesting on the island, illegal fishing and the introduction of invasive species.
From the avifauna is known that the Zebra Rail ( Gallirallus torquatus ), the Philippines Chicken ( Megapodius cumingii ) and the Gray Pigeon Island ( Ducula pickeringii ) live on the island. However, stocks have seen a sharp decline over the past seventy years. Of the approximately 150,000 birds that live on the island, only a few thousand still live on the island today. The striped bronze snake ( Dendralaphis caudolineatus ) now found on the island had a dramatic negative impact on the populations of the birds nesting on Ursula Island.