Before the first human settlers introduced exotic predators and began to destroy the forest, the pink pigeon was thought to be common on the small island of Mauritius. However, since 1840 it has been regarded as a rare bird, and by 1991 only 10 were left in the wild. The pink pigeon is one of just nine surviving native bird species, which exist in alarmingly small populations on Mauritius today. Without emergency help from the Trust, this bird would have become as dead as the Dodo, the extinct Mauritian bird used to symbolise the efforts of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Photo credit JH @ Durrell
For more info. check out http://www.durrell.org/Animals/Birds/Mauritius-pink-pigeon/
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