ROUND ISLAND BURROWING BOA


The Round Island Burrowing Boa or RIBB as I'll refer to it in this blog post, was one of two species of boas that lived on the island of Mauritius.  If that name sounds familiar it is because Mauritius is best known as the island where the Dodo went extinct.

 Round Island is a small island north east of the Mauritius main island (see map below).  The other boas, the Round Island Ground Boa has been saved from extinction by the efforts of zoos, and have recently been returned to the wild on Round Island.  It is thought that between 500 and 1,000 ground boas are now living in the wild.

 For the RIBB though, there is no such luck.  It is assumed to have gone extinct in 1975, when the last sighting was reported.  Black rats, goats, and rabbits decimated Round Island and took their toll on this unique species of snake. Black rats ate many young RIBBs and their main prey, the Telfair's skink.  Even though scientists were able to restock the skinks on the island after the removal of those invasive species, only the RIBB's ground loving cousin remain.

 Additional Resources:

 http://blogs.thatpetplace.com/thatreptileblog/2012/12/12/round-island-boa-reintroduction-back-in-wild-after-a-150-year-absence/#.VuQf-vkrKM8

Map to show location of Round Island off the coast of Mauritius


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