Warbler captured on Cousin Island feeding its young  (file photo by Cas Eikenaar)

Being the fittest competitor at meal time against your siblings could make you bigger, tougher, live longer and give you greater reproductive prowess, if you’re a Seychelles Warbler that is. This is according to research conducted on the endemic warbler denizens on Cousin Island Special Reserve.

(Collecting body measurements and other data is routine while monitoring the Seychelles Warbler; file photo by Martijn Hammers)

It is one of the most studied bird species in the world, definitely the most researched species in Seychelles and the only bird whose status has been downgraded from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of endangered species through direct conservation action. The Seychelles Warbler was the reason Cousin Island Special Reserve was purchased nearly fifty years ago by BirdLife International then known as International Council for Bird Protection (ICBP).

Nature Seychelles' Island Coordinator, Eric Blais delivering his presentation during the 7th SWIOTUNA session in Maputo.

There has been quite some chatter recently focusing on the tuna fishing industry in the Seychelles. While the Seychelles Fishing Authority is reportedly keeping an eye on yellowfin tuna stocks with the aim achieving a 15 percent reduction in fishing allowance, members of the Seychelles Fishing Boat Owners Association (FBOA) and the Federation of Artisanal Fisheries are embittered at being left out of high level discussions on the future of the Seychelles fishing industry.

A report from Nature Seychelles’ International Volunteer Program

After university, I spent two years at a desk job; it was conservation work, but it was a desk job all the same. I had a routine, wake up at 6.30, get ready, go to work and spend hours at a desk writing reports, creating proposals, reviewing data, then even more writing, and then come home too late and too tired to really do anything else.