We were really lucky to have a visit from Kirsty, who told us all about the project that she was part of to conserve the endangered Mauritius Kestrel. What can you remember from what she told us? Do you have any other points or questions you want to make about the Mauritius Kestrel or any other endangered species?
I really liked the slide and I remembered that there were only 4 birds when the whole thing happened but now there are at least 400 known to be there now. I also remember that the kestrels ate lizards but the ones in captivity will be and were feed mice.
I was really interested in the Mauritius Kestrel and why it had different colouring to a normal kestrel. We learnt that there were only four left in the entire world at one point but now the numbers are rising thankfully.
Yes, just wasn’t it sooo intresting when Kirsty told us all about the Mauritius Kestrel?! I loved her visit. I’m still really in awe of how, as you say, the numbers rose in such a short time! I remember, wasn’t it 4-400? A-mazing! The fact that the colours of the Mauritius Kestrel were different to normal ones was fascinating as well. I was really surprised when Kirsty told us that in captivity, they fed the Mauritius Kestrels diced mice! Hey, that rhymes! Anyway, I’d have thought that they’d have fed them their would-be-usual food, lizards(or were they geckos? I can’t remember). Also it really was quite bad when the ships importing goods brought some very nasty pests and animals along with them to the island of Mauritius. I think they were: rats; who had stowed away, mongooses, and monkeys(didn’t they come from India or something)? And they used pesticide. Pesticide. How much worse could it get, until Kirsty and her team came along, thankfully just in time to breed 400 Mauritius Kestrels from only 4. To help the Mauritius Kestrels breed and survive, they locked up the mongooses, who were trying to eat the poor things, didn’t they? And luckily they designed and put into use these neat little boxes with clever making so that the naughty nimble monkeys couldn’t reach and steal the baby Mauritius Kestrels. Oh, and, weren’t the baby ones oh-so cute when they were being fed by hand?