Round Island skink

Telfair Skink ( Leiolopisma telfairii )

The Telfair Skink ( Leiolopisma telfairii ) is a Skinkart that occurs on a round Iceland, on the Île aux Aigrettes on Gunner's Quoin and in Mauritius. He belongs to a genus of skinks, which are found primarily on New Caledonia and New Zealand; but its closest relatives are the extinct taxa Leiolopisma mauritiana from Mauritius and Réunion Leiolopisma ceciliae. Named is the way by Charles Edward Telfair, founder of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius.

Description

The Telfair skink reaches a length of 30 to 40 centimeters. The long, almost cylindrical body is generally brownish- gray, often mottled with dark or brownish spots on the skin. The rather long and strong tail is renewed when he lost in a fight. In sunlight, the small scales have a rainbow -like shimmer. With the relatively short but very strong legs undermines the Telfair skink nest or protective caves.

Way of life

The Telfair skink is an omnivore whose diet consists of seeds, fruits, insects, young shrews and snakes as well as from small lizards. Cannibalism is not uncommon and it happens that the adult skinks eat their own young.

Status

Previously, the Telfair Skink occurred on the mainland of Mauritius and on offshore islands such as flat Iceland. Since the mid 19th century, it was only detected in round Iceland. Rabbits and goats had the vegetation on Round Iceland strongly affected and so the mid 1970s by the Mauritian government, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust was decided to eliminate all goats and rabbits from the island. This program was successfully completed in 1987 with the poisoning of the last rabbit. Thanks to the protective measures, the holdings of the Telfair Skinks recovered so well that in 2006, a population on Gunner's Quoin and 2007 on the Ile aux Aigrettes could be built. As Gerald Durrell visited 1976-1977 Round Iceland, there were 4500-5000 copies of the Telfair skinks on the island. Durrell brought some animals in the Jersey Zoo, which formed the basis for successful breeding groups in North American and European zoos.