FEAST OR FAMINE

  Mauritius was home to the infamous dodo, now extinct. But it has a vast range of coastal, water, and inland birds from parrots to flamingos.  The red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) is a tropical bird commonly found in forests and urban areas across Asia, India and Mauritius. It has also spread to Australia, particularly along the south-eastern coastal areas. It is a medium-sized bird of about 20 centimetres (8 inches) with black, white and brown markings. It has a distinctive pointed black crest with red cheeks and a thin black moustache.  MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

The island of Mauritius lies in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and Australia. Closer to the African continent, about 2,000 kilometres away, it was first visited by the Arabs and then the Portuguese. It became a French colony from 1715, after the Dutch left in 1710. Under British rule from 1810 it resumed its original name of Mauritius, which the Dutch named after Prince Maurice. It became independent in 1968 and a Commonwealth republic in 1992. Mauritius is 65 kilometres long and 45 kilometres wide with a population estimated around 1.3 million. It has 150 kilometres of coastline with rocky outlets and sandy beaches – and the third largest coral reef in the world. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).