MAURITIUS - Dodos, Pink Pigeons, Echo Parakeets and Mauritius Kestrels

Here's the Financial Times with a report on the the bird life of Mauritius. "At worship in a forest cathedral" mentions Carl Jones and his remarkable efforts, and talks about all of the birds Douglas Adams mentions in Last Chance To See.

It was the home of the dodo until the Portuguese settled on the uninhabited island in the mid 17th century and drove the species to extinction but more recent birdlife that has been nearing oblivion has been a bit luckier.

The pink pigeon, a distant cousin of the dodo, the echo parakeet and the Mauritius kestrel have all had a reprieve, due largely to the work of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the tireless efforts of conservationist Carl Jones, a scientific director of the foundation, who was greatly influenced by the work of naturalist Gerald Durrell.