Cousine Island

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The island of Cousine is part of the archipelago of the Seychelles in the western Indian Ocean. The 25 -acre island located about 6 km west of Praslin Island, next to the uninhabited island cousin.

History

Cousin was discovered in the 18th century by European sailors and settled from 1787 by French colonizers. The entrained by these settlers cats and dogs quickly decimated the indigenous, partly endemic species. The plant of tobacco and coconut plantations led to the dramatic decline of native flora, which the native wildlife in addition decimated. Most species died on Cousine over the decades from practical.

In 1992, a businessman from South Africa bought the island, was the plantation economy and set itself the goal, restore the island to its original condition. For this, the new owner called a restoration program in place. First, the entrained pets such as cats and chickens were trapped and relocated to the neighboring island of Praslin. At the same time began the extermination of almost all non- native plants (tobacco, coffee plants, chili, cinnamon, bamboo), which had been introduced during the European colonization. Although the coconut palm is actually not native to the Seychelles, Reserve left you a few copies on Cousine. Thousands of seedlings of native tree species (eg, Morinda, Pisonia, Ochrosia ) were newly planted.

Wildlife

From the island of Fregate native birds such as the extremely rare Magpie Robin and the Seychelles weavers were brought to cousin. The Seychelles warbler was settled by cousin from. Other species such as the White -tailed Tropicbird and the Fairy Tern returned by itself.

Living on cousin and reproduce multiple copies of the Seychelles giant tortoise ( Dipsochelys hololissa ). In addition, lays on the beach of cousin the endangered hawksbill turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) their eggs.

Tourism

To finance the restoration project a small exclusive bungalow - hotel complex was built on Cousine. Up to eight guests can stay here at a time. The hotel manager is also - together with an ornithologist - responsible for the restoration, maintenance and preservation of flora and fauna of the island.