Understanding and turtles

When the idea came up to repopulate one of the islands near Mauritius with giant deer there were quite a few opponents, the "Egret Island" Ile aux Aigrettes was inhabited by giant deer of the Cylindraspis type as well as a humet species that is considered the largest in the world 

A lot has been written about alien/invader species and the great damage they cause to the natural environment, the more familiar examples are species that were intentionally or unintentionally imported to the islands.

Rats that escaped from ships cause the extinction of seabirds, foxes and rabbits that were imported to Australia to be used for the "sport" of hunting harm the local animal population, African bees that were imported to the USA attack people. Pigs that were brought to America about 500 years ago breed and threaten native vegetation, birds, reptiles and small mammals and have recently been identified as disease spreaders. The American squirrel that was imported to the British Isles is pushing the legs of the local squirrel.

With us: acacia species that were imported as ornamental shrubs and to stabilize dunes invade all natural areas and crowd out local plants, as well as the populations of nutria that "became stupid", sparrows, Indian myna and others, there are those who claim that there is nothing wrong with this because a "dynamic" and changing population is not always Negative, but the accepted opinion and activity is to prevent the invasion of foreign species into natural habitats.

One of the successful operations in eliminating invaders is currently being carried out on the island of South Georgia in the South Pacific Ocean, in the 19th and 20th centuries the Norwegian (brown) rats Rattus norvegicus were "imported" to the island by whaling ships anchored in the bays of the island,

The rats destroyed the bird population on the island, recently poisoned baits were spread around the island and there are already reports of a significant decrease in the number of rats without harming other animals.

When the idea came up to repopulate one of the islands near Mauritius with giant deer there were quite a few opponents, the "Egret Island" Ile aux Aigrettes was inhabited by giant deer of the Cylindraspis type as well as a humet species that is considered the largest in the world

Leiolopisma mauritiana, and probably also in its famous dodo, dodo birds.

All this until the arrival of man, when the human settlements arrived in the environment, the population of reptiles and birds unique to the islands completely disappeared. It is possible that little attention was paid to the local extinction, but unlike other islands in the vicinity where the locals subsist mainly from growing spices, fishing and tourism, the inhabitants of Heron Island live mainly from agriculture that meets their needs and from the export of the Habana tree Diospyros egrettarum (Ebony) which is used for the production of musical instruments and luxury furniture.

At some point the island was declared a nature reserve and the locals who understood the importance of the tree stopped collecting it as firewood and did their best to collect the branches of the tree in a sustainable way, in a way that would not damage the grove and allow continuous exploitation. It turned out that the groves of understanding are dwindling and despite the cessation of cutting there is no regeneration, an examination and research led to the conclusion that no one distributes the tree seeds and therefore there is no regeneration.

Further testing showed that the natural spreader of the haban seeds on the island was ….. a giant deer. It turned out that the giant turtles that lived on the island had a special attraction to the haban fruit, the sweet fruit that falls to the ground is picked up by the turtles and eaten, the turtles "travel" in the area, excreting the haban seeds that are "wrapped" in nutrients, it also turned out that seeds passed through the digestive system of turtles Germinate faster and thus the turtles create the good data for tree regeneration.

Now that the regeneration cycle of the understanding (on the island) is known, the task of returning the turtles to the island remains, except that the turtles on the island were of a type that was completely extinct. After tests, it became clear that the turtles on the island of Aldabra (Seychelles) Aldabrachelys gigantea, are the closest to those that were on the heron island, close but different and therefore The question of introducing a foreign species came up, Aldabra is an "atoll" (an island built on a coral reef) that is dry and hot, Heron Island is a humid and green granite island, meaning the conditions are not similar.

When discussing the introduction of a foreign species into the environment, giant tortoises have an advantage on the islands, since there are no large predators on the islands, the food chain is relatively short and the turtles are at the top, the tortoises are huge and multiply slowly, so if the need arises, they can be removed from the system, considering the result of trying to return turtles to the island.

In the first stage, in 2000, a number of turtles were brought from Aldebra and put into the pen, the main concern was that the turtles from Aldebra would pose a threat to the local vegetation, in the Iklum pen it turned out that the turtles eat mainly foreign plants, this is because the local plants that developed together with the island turtles developed resistance against their eaters, meaning there is no harm In native flora and there is eating invasive plants.

In 2005, about 25 turtles were released into the wild, already after a year the results were visible: spots began to appear in the turtles' pastures where young haban trees sprouted. Now we have to wait and see if the buds of understanding that grow in the pastures of the turtles will develop and grow into trees, which will mark the success of restoring a species different from the original.

We also have to wait and see what environmental effects the giant tortoises have, the local tortoises were indeed large and reached a weight of 300 kg, Aldabra tortoises reach almost double their weight and are known for their tendency to dig large holes around which unique vegetation develops. The pits are intended for protection from the scorching sun in Aldebara, on the island of branches there are trees that provide shade... Will the turtles change their habits, we will wait and see.

When dealing with the restoration of related species, it is worth mentioning successes such as: the successful (re)population of a peregrine falcon in North America, the population of a night heron in Bermuda that regulates the population of land crabs (which cause damage to agriculture), there are even those who propose to populate North America with animals (mammals large) from the Pleistocene Pleistocene ecosystems of North America be reconstituted horses, camels, elephants, cheetahs and other large mammals whose populations are in danger.

This may be an exaggeration but the proposal exists like the proposal we had to try and return cheetahs to the wild and support the tiger population. Because, as in the wider world, we also deal with the restoration of species that do not always correspond to the species that existed, the ostriches that may live different from those that were here, the restoration of elk to the forests of Jerusalem and Carmel will only succeed if the packs of dogs that went wild and the wild hunters are "neutralized", the repopulation of deer in the Golan is a success, no Thus, an apparently failed attempt to populate Nahal Yehudia with goats. The Shabbat of the wild and rams appears to be successful, but it must be remembered that both species are herbivores! grazers. The Negev is drying up and the amount of grass is decreasing, will the Rams and the savages learn to gather the fruits of the shits? Will they turn from "grass harvesters" grazers into "leaf pickers" browsers yes if not.... The chances of their survival... are small!