Photo by Don Merton, © 1998. All rights reserved.
Mauritius Round Island Palm

            Round Island is the remnant of an extinct, eroded and now partly submerged volcanic cone situated about 15 miles north of the large island of Mauritius in the southwest Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. Mauritius itself, formerly the home of the now extinct Dodo bird, has been devastated by human induced environmental disasters of many kinds. Its flora and fauna now rank amongst the world’s most threatened. Round Island is sufficiently isolated that not only is it the final refuge for many Mascarine endemics, but over the eons, a number of unique animals and plants have evolved there, but like Mauritius, it has suffered degradation. In the early 19th century goats and rabbits were introduced to Round Island. Their browsing was largely responsible for the total loss of the island’s natural hardwood scrub-forest, the severe degradation of the last example of a unique palm association, as well as the loss through erosion of around 90% of the island’s soil. So severe was the destruction that this photo shows the only remaining individual of the Round Island Hurricane Palm on the island. Goats were removed in 1979 and in 1986 Don Merton and team eradicated the rabbits, thus saving this unique plant species along with ~15 other Red Data Book plants & animals in their native home.