It is illegal to import live wild birds or birds for pets in Seychelles  After the spread of the avian flu, the local authorities have maintained the ban on imports of all live birds. We have been fortunate to avoid some of the more serious consequences of the irresponsible movement of wild birds. Although some species have been lost from these islands, the trade in live birds has not been one of the reasons. We had the foresight to outlaw these practices before any damage was done. Other countries have paid the price for not doing the same.

Did you know that what is possibly the world’s rarest bat lives only in Seychelles? The Sheath-tailed bat or Sousouri Banan is one of only two mammals occurring naturally in the granitic islands (the other is the Fruit bat or Sousouri). It is endemic – it cannot be found anywhere else in the world. There are only about 40-100 individuals left. It is believed that to have any chance of saving the species, a population of 500 bats is the viable number. The challenge for us all is how do we increase the bat population by as much as this?

During a recent survey of Cousin Island, Nature Seychelles’ staff and volunteers discovered a very young and very small giant – a baby Aldabra Giant Tortoise. It was found among the boulders on the rocky plateau of the Special Reserve. Nearby, a group of visitors were being shown around by their guide, visiting Warden Glenn Jackway. Alerted to the young Torti discovery by Nature Seychelles’ Science Coordinator Rachel Bristol, Glenn was able to treat his group to ‘exclusive’ views of the find.

There was a fairy tale with a happy ending recently at Nature Seychelles. A newly fledged Fairy Tern, or Golan Blan, flew off into the sunrise after several weeks in our care. We are not a welfare organisation, and rearing baby terns is not what we are set up or equipped to do. But, in the case of Dylan (as we called him), we made an exception. Let’s start at the beginning.