12 Wild Animals in Mauritius [Wildlife in Mauritius]

Learn All About Mauritian Animals

Ready to learn all about Mauritian animals?

I’ve always been fascinated by animals, and by how they can be so different from one country to another. In this guide, we’ll focus on the many animals Mauritius has on the land, in the sky, and underwater.

I’ve split the guide into 5 categories:

• Native animals from Mauritius
• Endangered animals of Mauritius
• What is the national animal of Mauritius?
• How many animals native to Mauritius?
• What is the most common animal in Mauritius?

Let’s dive in right away with our first category!

Native Animals from Mauritius

Mauritius is a small African island country located in the southeastern part of the continent, east of Madagascar. It is one of the smallest countries in all of Africa, it is made of 4 main islands (Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon) and smaller islands, it has no official language (but people speak both French and English), and it used to be a French, then a British colony. It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean, and its capital and largest city is Port Louis, which counts more than 147,000 inhabitants.

An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its wildlife. In light of that, I have listed the best of it, and I hope you will love learning what animals live in Mauritius.

Here’s the Mauritius animals list.

1. Mauritian flying fox

• Name: Mauritian flying fox
• Scientific name: Pteropus niger
• Conservation status: Endangered

Because Mauritius is a small island, away from large lands, there were originally no terrestrial mammals; the only ones that made it to the archipelago were marine mammals and bats, including the Mauritian flying fox, the only one of the two fruit bats that remains.

The Mauritian flying fox is a species of megabat endemic to the islands of La Réunion and Mauritius, and it reaches a wingspan of up to 80 cm / 31 in.

2. Dodo

• Name: Dodo
• Scientific name: Raphus cucullatus
• Conservation status: Extinct

If you think of any animal from Mauritius, the first one that comes to mind is most definitely the dodo. This extinct flightless bird disappeared throughout the 17th century and is the emblem of the country, as well as that of any endangered animal.

The dodo is particularly important to remember that introduced species and human practices such as overhunting can have devastating effects on biodiversity.

3. Javan rusa

• Name: Javan rusa
• Scientific name: Rusa timorensis
• Conservation status: Vulnerable

The Javan rusa, also known as the Sunda sambar, is definitely not one of the animals you would expect in Mauritius, where it was introduced.

Originally native to southeastern Asia, namely Indonesia and the islands of Java, Timor, and Bali, it is a species of deer mostly active in the early morning and late afternoon. Its diet is mainly made of grasses, fruits, and leaves, and it is very sociable and stays in groups.

4. Round Island boa

• Name: Round Island boa
• Scientific name: Casarea dussumieri
• Conservation status: Vulnerable

The Round Island boa, also known as the Round Island ground boa or the Round Island keel-scaled boa, is a species of nonvenomous snake endemic to Round Island, one of Mauritius’ islands.

This uninhabited island is perfect for the Round Island boa, which used to be critically threatened by competition with goats, rabbits, and habitat degradation. Since conservation efforts started, the population of this boa has gone up from 250 to 1,000.

5. Mauritius ornate day gecko

Sergey Yeliseev / CC BY-NC-ND

• Name: Mauritius ornate day gecko
• Scientific name: Phelsuma ornata
• Conservation status: Data deficient

The Mauritius ornate day gecko is a species of gecko endemic to Mauritius and surrounding islands. It can be found in bushes and trees in coastal areas, where it feeds on nectar and insects.

This colorful, diurnal reptile is one of the smallest day geckos, reaching a length of up to 12 cm / 4.7 in. In captivity, it is very shy and surprisingly quick.

6. Sperm whale

• Name: Sperm whale
• Scientific name: Physeter macrocephalus
• Conservation status: Vulnerable

The sperm whale, widely known as the cachalot, is one of the most impressive and large animals that you will find off the coast of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean.

This whale is an animal of all records: it is the third deepest diving mammal (after Cuvier’s beaked whale and the southern elephant seal), has the largest brain on Earth, and is the largest toothed predator in the world!

7. Dugong

• Name: Dugong
• Scientific name: Dugong dugon
• Conservation status: Vulnerable

The dugong is another species of marine animal that you will find around the coast of Mauritius. It is a mammal from the same family as several species of manatees, and its range encompasses about 40 countries and territories of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

This species is listed as vulnerable to extinction, mainly due to environmental degradation, hunting, low reproductive rate, and fishing accidents.

8. Mauritian tomb bat

Frank Vassen / CC BY

• Name: Mauritian tomb bat
• Scientific name: Taphozous mauritianus
• Conservation status: Least concern

Despite its name, the Mauritian tomb bat is, for once, not endemic to Mauritius; in fact, it can also be found in much of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Madagascar.

Similarly to most bats, the Mauritian tomb bat is a nocturnal hunter that mostly feeds on butterflies, termites, and moths. It gets its name from the country in which it was discovered, as well as the fact that it was commonly seen on the walls of old tombs.

9. Small Indian mongoose

• Name: Small Indian mongoose
• Scientific name: Urva auropunctata
• Conservation status: Least concern

The small Indian mongoose is a small species of mongoose native to northern South Asia and Iraq and has been introduced to many countries in the world, mainly islands, such as Mauritius, as well as the Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

This mongoose is often considered an invasive species, and it has had devastating effects on local biodiversity in several countries. It feeds on domestic poultry, resident and migratory birds, and insects.

10. Southern elephant seal

• Name: Southern elephant seal
• Scientific name: Mirounga leonina
• Conservation status: Least concern

The southern elephant seal is a large species of seal, and one of two elephant seals alongside the northern elephant seal. It is the largest pinniped and carnivore on the planet and is particularly massive, which is where it gets its name from, on top of its large proboscis.

It lives in the southernmost parts of the globe and was already reported around the coastline of Mauritius.

11. Orca

• Name: Orca
• Scientific name: Orcinus orca
• Conservation status: Data deficient

The orca, widely known as the killer whale, is a large species of oceanic dolphin with a characteristic black and white body. It can be found all around the globe and is an important part of mythology, where it is considered to be a merciless killer or an embodiment of the souls of humans.

It is one of the most dreadful marine animals on the planet and is a powerful apex predator that mainly feeds on seals, dolphins, and fish. Some individuals also attack whale calves, as well as adult blue whales!

12. Pantropical spotted dolphin

• Name: Pantropical spotted dolphin
• Scientific name: Stenella attenuata
• Conservation status: Least concern

After the frightening orca comes the magnificent, acrobatic pantropical spotted dolphin. Native to all the world’s temperate and tropical oceans, it can be seen off the coast of Mauritius.

This marine mammal is one of the most abundant species of dolphin in the world, but it used to be seriously threatened by fishing practices; since the 1980s and the introduction of dolphin-friendly fishing methods, it has largely recovered.

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So there you have them, these were my 12 endemic animals in Mauritius. I hope you enjoyed this list and that you learned something new today.

In case you want to learn more about Mauritius wildlife, feel free to keep reading, as I still have lots of things to tell you about:

Endangered Animals of Mauritius

This is definitely the saddest part of the list, but it is essential to raise awareness. Because of this, let’s go through the list of endangered animals in Mauritius.

Here are the animals in danger of extinction in Mauritius.

Extinct in the wild

• Broad-billed parrot
• Rodrigues starling
• Hoffstetter’s worm snake
• Dodo
• Rodrigues parakeet
• and 26 more…

Critically endangered

• Madagascar fish-eagle
• Great hammerhead
• Hawksbill turtle
• Mascarene petrel
• Green sawfish
• and 7 more…

Endangered

• Greater mascarene flying fox
• Macchabé skink
• Lowland forest day gecko
• Barau’s petrel
• Meller’s duck
• and 24 more…

To see the full list of endangered species in Mauritius, head over to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.

What is the National Animal of Mauritius?

The national animal of Mauritius is the dodo.

The dodo is the emblem of Mauritius, and it is an extinct, flightless bird endemic to the island. It was first seen in 1598 by Dutch sailors and hunted thereafter by them and invasive species, which ultimately led to the extinction of the dodo around 1662.

Not only is it extremely important in Mauritius, but it is also one of the main symbols of extinct animals and of the fight against wildlife degradation.

It is widespread in literature (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), poetry (Bad Child’s Book of Beasts), and popular culture (“dead as a dodo”, “to go the way of the dodo”), and is featured in Mauritius’ coat of arms and currency.

How Many Animals Native to Mauritius?

What is the diversity of native animals on Mauritius?

Let’s look at the total number of species of Chordata (mammals, birds, fishes, and reptiles).

Total number of animal species in Mauritius: 1,501 (14,205 in total in sub-Saharan Africa)

What is the most common animal in Mauritius?

The most common animals in Mauritius are definitely birds, as this isolated island does not have many land mammals. And among birds, the most common of them is most likely the Mauritius gray white eye, one of two species of birds endemic to the island, alongside the Mauritius olive white eye.

This species lives in woodlands, forests, and gardens and can be seen and heard very easily on the island.

More About Animals in the World!

Loved these Mauritius animal facts? Want to see what animals live in other countries?

Then check out these posts:

• Wild Animals in Comoros
• Wild Animals in Madagascar
• Wild Animals in Seychelles

Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.

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