Mauritius! An Island Paradise

A few weeks prior to the completion of my Masters degree at the University of Queensland (graduated July 2018) I was offered an amazing job, working in Mauritius with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (a British NGO founded by the world famous naturalist and author Gerald Durrell). The job was to work in the field as a Conservation Biologist on the endangered Echo Parakeet project, conserving this amazing bird species which had been brought back from the brink of extinction. This is my account of the ups and downs of working in this amazing country for 6 months. The booking of flights, accommodation and utilities were all done and paid for by the NGO so this was an opportunity I was not going to deny myself.

The transition from Brisbane to Mauritius via Sri Lanka was far from smooth. It seemed everything that could go wrong, did! From visa, to flight bookings, to a change in my new boss even before I began working, there were several issues and challenges to overcome. But working in Mauritius on an endangered species project was for me a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I persevered. Looking back I’m so very glad I did.

I flew back to Sri Lanka from Australia at the end of August where I spent a few weeks with my family before making my way to Mauritius on the night of 13th September 2019. My journey to Mauritius was quite eventful with the airline folk sweetly telling me I could travel without my check in bag, due to booking errors in the ticket! I was relieved when I managed to talk my way out of that ridiculous situation. In Mauritius my new boss was late picking me up from the airport, giving me quite a few anxious moments. Anyway Thank God I made it to Mauritius.

From the airport which is on the eastern side of Mauritius we drove to the field accommodation, which is commonly known as ‘Camp’ on the western part of the island. It is based inside the Black River Gorges National Park and takes 30-40 minutes to get to from the main entrance of the park by 4WD. As we drove through to the cabin I was greeted by so many birds which were flying around and feeding from the food which had been put out for them. There were Echo Parakeets, Pink Pigeons (both under conservation management) and Mauritius Bulbuls (only native species not under conservation management).

My cabin was shared with 10 others working across three different bird conservation projects. The Echo team as we were known consisted of team leader Helen (French), Vanousha (Mauritian), Josh (Mauritian), Maria (Spanish) and myself (Sri Lankan). The Echo Parakeet population which now comprises of 800 birds was the rarest parrot in the world a few decades ago with only 20 individuals left.

Gonzalo (Spanish), Calum (Scottish) and Katiana (German) worked on the Mauritius Kestrel project. The Mauritius Kestrel which now has a population of over 400 birds was once the rarest bird in the world with 4 birds left which included one breeding female.

Elliot (English) (whom I called Frosty since his surname was Frost) and two Mauritians, Blackwell (whom I called Blacky much to his annoyance as he claimed he felt like a pet dog) and Anne-Gaelle worked on the Pink Pigeon project. This bird was upgraded to ‘Vulnerable’ from being ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List (once the world’s rarest pigeon) in October 2019 after almost 40 years of conservation work.

My best friend was Gonzalo, with whom I would frequently go on adventures during the weekends and get into good natured mischief. I am the only person he allowed to call him ‘Gonzi’ which he claimed he tolerated because it was me. The camp ran on electricity powered by solar panels and water from tanks which were filled with rain water. Electronic devices could only be charged when the voltage was above a certain amount and water had to be rationed. So it was bucket showers every evening to conserve water. In addition the camp consisted of a fully stocked kitchen with a freezer and fridge, compost toilet where the barrel had to be changed every few months (always an adventure) and aviaries and feeding pods for the birds under conservation management. During the week I was based inside the Black River Gorges National Park and on the weekends at the NGO's beach house for expats in La Preneuse, Black River.

Mauritius (2000 sq. km) has a population of roughly 1.5 million and most Mauritians are descendants of Indian slaves. The island was conquered by the French and then the British so there is significant French and British influence on the island. Creole which is the most commonly spoken language is a mixture of French and English. The official national language is English, but most are fluent in English, French and Creole. Being a Sri Lankan I was very often mistaken for a local and would have to spend a few minutes explaining to the person starting a conversation with me that I wasn’t a local. I would often get a disappointed look and a response asking can you speak Hindi instead for which I would reply ‘No, but I can speak Tamil’. Although Mauritius has a Tamil radio channel only a handful of people are left who can speak or understand it. I got my Mauritian friends to teach me Creole instead and am able to hold a very basic conversation for a minute. To avoid delays and running around finding people I had to learn the phrase ‘’Esky u kapov uvaya lapot s’il vous plait’’ which translates to ‘’Could you please open the gate’’, as the security personnel at the National Parks gate could not speak much English.

The job involved long tiring hours out in the field and 15 hours of work each day, but it was very fulfilling. In my first week I was taught how to climb trees using climbing equipment so that I could access nest boxes. The Echo team is up before sunrise to ID the Echos which come to feed at the feeding pods at camp, which are filled with food each evening. Each bird has a unique combination of coloured metal/plastic rings on each foot which allows us to identify each individual using binoculars. The first bird to arrive in the mornings is a feisty female called ‘Koru’. She will not allow anyone to access her nest box and those who have had to access her home have endured being attacked and bitten severely. She is a tough cookie and will not stand for any non-sense from any human or parrot and will be waiting for me each morning to put out fresh oranges and apples. We do this till about 7am after which we get ready for the day, leave at 8am to climb trees to access different nest boxes or hollows (there are 150 monitoring sites in the national park) in the national park on the basis that each one is visited at least once a month.

Most of my job involved climbing trees during the week to access nest boxes and working in very close proximity to the Echo Parakeets. As we reach each nest box carrying tree we wait out of sight for the female to leave the nest box before accessing it. This is to ensure that the female does not accidentally crush the eggs or chicks, doesn’t get too stressed and also to protect us from being attacked. Nevertheless, there are good mothers like Koru who will always attack regardless, trying to defend her home. My favourite female was a bird called ‘Numberwang’ who would come out of her nest box as I called her name from the bottom of the tree and also posed for a selfie with me on a few occasions while I was suspended on the tree. She would stay on branch nearby and watch while I checked on her eggs and the nest box and never did she or her male partner ‘Mastermind’ attack me. These birds are monogamous and the male will also be around, sometimes getting the female to act as a diversion while he flies in to attack us. Once we reach the nest box we undertake maintenance work on the box, check on the condition of the eggs or chicks, add in wooden blocks for the parrots to chew on (as is the practice in a natural tree hollow) and add wooden shavings treated with anti-fungal liquid for bedding. We also undertake control activities of invasive competitor species such as Rats, Indian Mynahs and Ring-necked Parakeets whose eggs we destroy and euthanise any young by the most humane method possible. In my life this is the first time I have had to kill animals and it is a horrible feeling when you have to do it, but in order to save the native species it’s a difficult job that needs to be done. Each nest box has a theme such as Composers, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Angels, Countries etc. so each chick that successfully hatches and has the rings put on is named according to that theme.

The chicks are fitted with these metal rings between 13-20 days after they hatch and blood samples are taken from the chicks 45 days after hatching with biometrics taken each time. The rings are placed under the elbow of the bird and is done in a way that it does not slip off or impede the growth of the bird’s leg. The ringing is usually done while suspended on the tree inside a bucket so that the chicks don’t fall to the ground if accidentally dropped. The chicks are brought down the tree to take blood samples as it requires two people. One person handles the bird while the other takes the blood sample and biometrics. The chicks leave the nest around 50-60 days after hatching and will remain with the parents for a few months afterwards. The male parrots have a pink collar and red beak whilst the females lack the collar, but instead are darker green than the males with a black beak. The youngsters are easily identifiable with their orange beaks and as they will be the ones making all the silly noises and annoying the parents. My appreciation increased for all the things parents have to deal with and their patience when I saw what the parent parrots had to put up with when it came to their chicks. I occasionally would help the Pink Pigeon team with ringing birds and undertaking medical checks on them. The pigeons are extremely stupid, but adorable at the same time. Frosty taught me how to handle them as it was very different to how one handles the parrots.

The majority of species in Mauritius are invasive and the native species are all under conservation management. Many of threats that face these animals include deforestation, invasive competitor and predator species, diseases and climate change. It's quite sad to see such low levels of biodiversity left on this small but beautiful island. There are a few native species which we get back at home in Sri Lanka here as well including Sambar deer, Macaques (monkey) Wild Boar and Mongoose which are invasive species here. There are no dangerous animals in the forest of Mauritius. So I don't have to worry about large animals or poisonous reptiles as is the case back home or in Australia. The main danger are the bees and wasps which I have managed to avoid so far and continue to do so after my near death experience in January 2017 when I was ambushed and stung badly by bees in Sri Lanka in the line of duty.

The Mauritian wilderness is also home to poachers and Marijuana dealers. These individuals shoot first and ask questions later and the only weapons on me were a pruning saw, penknife and a scouting knife to defend myself. On many an occasion I have heard shots fired while out working and stumbled across abandoned plantations. The Mauritian police (no army in Mauritius) has a branch called Special Mobile Force (SMF) who are military trained Special Forces officers. Every day while out in the field I see SMF helicopters flying around the national park looking for drug dealers and their plantations. The Marijuana dealers also place fatal traps to get rid of people who come poking around in their territory. The penalty for drugs in Mauritius is severe and if caught would involve life in prison depending on the severity of the offense. Poachers run wild through the jungle looking for wild boar and stealing bird eggs. As all native bird species in Mauritius are under conservation management, the eggs are very valuable on the black market. Certain Echo Parakeet nest boxes most at risk of being accessed by poachers have a padlock attached to them, but they don’t always work. During my time in Mauritius none of the eggs were stolen, but I have heard conversations by poachers/drug dealers lurking in the bushes underneath while I was up in certain trees.

During the week, I had very little internet and phone access within the park. There was one spot in the entire camp which had phone reception and we would all be there at night trying to message or contact our families. Most of time I would be calling or sending messages to my family to tell them I was fine from the tops of trees where the phone reception was excellent. My parents would always ask me from which tree I was calling or texting each time a communication came through from me during the day. There was a book shelf at camp where previous expats had left a collection of books. I read a lot while I was based at camp and we would play darts or card games after dinner to keep ourselves entertained.

The beach house was also located in a secluded part of Mauritius so the only thing to do on the weekend was to go swimming/ snorkeling and catch up on rest. Fortunately, there was internet and phone reception to keep us entertained. There were some lovely reefs here so I spent some of my time snorkelling. The first time I went snorkelling I came across a Lion Fish and a Box fish. We found a new snorkeling spot a few kilometers from the beach house. It was a better location with greater marine species diversity with so many colourful creatures including Trigger Fish, Sea Cucumbers, Sea Urchins, Lion Fish and a variety of coral fish species. While we were out swimming the tide had the tendency to suddenly drop to such a low extent that we were in the dangerous predicament of either getting impaled on sea urchins or cut on coral. It took a lot of skilled maneuvering to try and find deeper waters to find our bearings to get back to shore safely. Luckily the three of us out snorkeling the first day this happened were good swimmers so we managed to get to shore safely. We always checked the tide from that day onwards whenever we went out snorkeling at that spot. The Mauritian culture is such that they love a party and the beach. We would regularly have parties and BBQs on the beach and go for regular swims on the weekends.

There was no choir or Anglican parish nearby so I attended a Catholic church which is a 20- minute walk from the beach house. The church music was terrible! I missed the beautiful choral music. To make matters worse the service was conducted in Mauritian creole/French and I could hardly understand a word. So instead I would go to church 40 minutes before service began and say a prayer every Sunday after which I would go for a swim.

On October 12th I had an accident while climbing when one of my knots slipped and I fell on my back about 5m down the tree. Luckily I walked away with only a bruised back and no spinal injury. Fortunately for me my team leader was only 700m away and there was phone reception so she was able to quickly come to my aid and drive me to the hospital. I explained my injury to the doctor at the hospital before she examined me and explained the reason I was up a tree and my line of work, but she still looked at me with a confused expression as to what would possess a normal human to be climbing trees. I have now used up 3 of my lives and have 6 left if I were a cat. Hopefully that will be plenty since I plan to work in the field for a long time to come.  

Once every 4 weeks I would spend the weekend on a small island off the eastern coast of Mauritius called Ile Aux Aigrette (Island of Egrets) which takes 5 minutes by boat. However, there are no Egrets on the island as the birds which are actually Herons were misidentified when the island was named. It is a wildlife reserve managed by MWF, home to the critically endangered Mauritius Olive White-Eye, the endangered Mauritian Fody, Pink Pigeons, a few species of reptiles including skinks and the Aldabra Tortoise (introduced from Seychelles as a surrogate for the native species which went extinct) and the Mauritian Bat (the only native mammal in Mauritius). The Fody and White-eye need to be fed daily as part of the conservation management strategy. I don’t entirely agree with this strategy as at this stage of conservation efforts feeding has made the birds entirely reliant on the supplementary food put out each day rather than weaning them off the food gradually so that they learn to forage for themselves. The island takes about 30 minutes to walk around with a few relics of World War 2 and artillery stations still present. The reef that surrounds this island is amazing with so much diversity. However, sharks, stonefish and sea urchins are in plenty so you can’t afford to put your foot down or not be alert while swimming. The current is also quite strong so one has to expend a lot of energy constantly swimming back towards the shore. The beauty of Mauritius can be captured when on the shore of this small island as the blue sea and sky, mountains, lack of internet and the serenity of sunset and sunrise make it paradise.

I had a roller coaster ride from end October. The Echo Parakeet breeding season went very badly that year. We have had so many egg failures and chick deaths. The scientist and management sides of the team not surprisingly had differing views on how best to deal with this situation. Ignoring the need for scientific research was heartbreaking for me as a Conservationist, when all the hard work we put in as a team seemed futile. However, professionalism must triumph over differences of opinion, and I persevered to do my best under the circumstances.  

My 24th birthday fell on a weekend. So I spent the day with my friends at the beach in the morning and watching the sunset with a beer in the evening. Gonzi treated me to a fine dinner at one of our usual dinner spots and I got some ice-cream to share with the gang at night. On the Friday before we left camp we had a party in the jungle with cake to celebrate my birthday. It was lovely to spend my birthday on such a beautiful island with good friends, but the presence of my family would have made it richer.

Mauritius is a hotspot for cyclones and as we approached Christmas we had to prepare for two cyclones which were expected to pass through the country. We tied down all the loose equipment including the solar panels at camp and did our best to close-up the camp kitchen hoping everything would be there when we returned. All the expats were to spend our time at the beach-house and restrict our movements during this time. Since none of the expats had any family in Mauritius and we were locked in due to the cyclone we decided to hold a Christmas dinner for ourselves at the beach house. It was loads of fun with all of us making different foods, with some of us cooking on the BBQ, others in the kitchen and the rest decorating the beach house. It was a very lively party with lots of music, dancing and games. We even did a secret Santa gift exchange where Frosty dressed up as Santa and got everyone to sit on his knee as he gave out each present. We also played twister which was hilarious considering the awkward positions we had to hold in each game to win. As a Christmas miracle both cyclones lost momentum before they reached Mauritius so we only experienced a little wind and rain.

On New Years Eve we decided to hold a party and a few games on the beach. We divided ourselves into two teams from east and west regions depending on which side of the island we were based in. The games involved ultimate frisbee, volleyball, limbo, and beer relays. The west side which was my team won every competition. After every game we simply went and had a dip in the sea to cool off. We also decided to hold a beer pong championship with two per team. Gonzi and I teamed up and defeated the defending champions Calum and Kathryn (Welsh) in the very first round. Gonzi and I won the competition by defeating Jo (French) and Saskia (German) both of whom were the underdogs throughout the entire tournament. Of course the prize for the winners were three beer cans each which we decided to share with the runners up. A fireworks display took place at mid-night which were watched in glee from the beach and to end the night we all ended up in the sea at 2am in the morning before making our way back to the beach house.

In mid-January another cyclone warning was issued for Mauritius. However, since the birds on Ile aux Aigrette required daily feed two conservationists were needed to spend the weekend on the island despite the cyclone. Gonzi and I were asked to undertake this mission and we both found it quite ironic that they were going to evacuate everyone off the island due to the cyclone, but put ourselves there. We were having a good laugh that they had picked two male expats (the expendable ones), for the task, but also realized that the two of us were very experienced conservationists and outdoorsy chaps who knew the layout of the island, were well versed in first aid procedures and good swimmers so we were the best people for the job. The boat was taken back to the mainland once we were dropped off since it was not safe enough to dock the boat at the ferry terminal on the island. So for the whole weekend we were stranded on this small paradise island with two boatmen and no boat, emergency supplies including food. The sea was a little rough with winds and rain, but Gonzi and I spent a joyous weekend watching movies (previously downloaded), reading, sleeping and relaxing after feeding the birds. This cyclone too lost momentum before it hit Mauritius so we were able to leave as planned on Monday. This is one of the most dangerous tasks I’ve performed in my conservation career.

In December I requested a transfer to another project under the supervision of the Fauna Manager, Dr. Nicolas Zuel who offered me this job. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints this was not successful, but Nicolas has asked me to return to Mauritius to work for him in August for a year which I accepted.

My parents and brother came to visit me for a few days in January. We stayed at the Monarch hotel which was very close to the beach house. We enjoyed good food and the beach. On the Sunday I had arranged with my teammate Josh to drive us all round Mauritius to show my family the places I worked and to see the capital city Port Louis. We drove around half the island in the 6 hours we were out and had a ball.

In February, 11 chicks that were in good condition from the breeding season were caught at camp and released to a new forest reserve called Ebony Forest as a reintroduction effort. I was one of the key players in this so I was able to ensure it was successful and the chicks were well cared for before they were released personally. I ensured that the chicks were under constant monitoring, one success moment for me since this roller coaster ride began. Before the juveniles are released to the wild they are kept in the aviaries for two weeks so that they can acclimatise to the new area. Fresh fruits are put out thrice a day and requires one member of the Echo team to remain on site till they are released. The aviary needs to be cleaned and disinfected before food is put in. After food is placed in the aviary each bird is monitored from a vantage point and their activity levels and movements within the aviary recorded. At the two week point the doors to the aviaries were open and all the birds flew out within a minute.

On my last day of work the entire lot of us at camp went to have free dinner at the Hindu ‘Mahasivarathri’ festival in town. It was so colourful and vibrant with life and music. The food was excellent and we stuffed ourselves with different Mauritian dishes. On the Saturday evening all my friends decided to take me out for farewell dinner, drinks and to dance to some lovely Mauritian music at a place called ‘Saxo’. It was loads of fun with good food and we once again ended up on the beach till our ride came to pick us up.

I had accumulated all my leave and was on holiday during my last week in Mauritius. During the week I visited the Mauritian Zoo and for the first time used the bus service to get there and back to the beach house where I was staying. The bus ride reminded me of riding a bus at home and I enjoyed the two trips. I snorkeled and spent a lot of time at the beach and exploring the surrounding areas which I had not visited before.

My flight out of Mauritius was on the 11th of March 2019. Kathryn dropped me off at the airport and I had a very pleasant flight from Mauritius to India (Bangalore). I had to spend 16 hours in Bangalore for my connecting 1-hour flight down south to Sri Lanka. Due to a mishap at the airport transit hotel I ended up spending the 16 hours stuck in the Air India lounge with no passport or boarding pass since they couldn’t issue the boarding pass until it was time for my departure. So I watched movies and ate to my heart’s desire for 16 hours before heading back home finally.

My Australian Professor Mike Weston with whom I had been working studying fear responses in birds since 2015 and I formed a partnership with a Mauritian Ecology Professor Vincent Florens attached to the University of Mauritius to undertake this project in Mauritius. We lodged a permit application with the Mauritian Wildlife Department and expect to receive the permit soon. 

I will be returning to Australia after Easter to help my Australian Professor to publish the research we have done in Sri Lanka on birds till I return to Mauritius in August.