Mauritius: "Stella Clavisque Maris Indici" Quiz

Answer: Indian

The national motto, included in this quiz's title, is "Stella Clavisque Maris Indici", a Latin phrase which can be translated into English as "Star and Key to the Indian Ocean". Mauritius is an island nation, located about 2,000 km east of mainland Africa, in the Indian Ocean.

Its main islands are Mauritius and Rodrigues, together referred to as the Mascarene Islands (a group which also includes the nearby French overseas department of Réunion); Agaléga and St. Brandon are called the outer islands, along with several other smallish islands whose ownership is disputed.

Answer: Portugal

Although the Portuguese may have been the first Europeans to make a settlement on Mauritius (in 1507), they were not particularly interested in the islands. The Dutch, however, saw them as a useful place to colonise in 1598, with resources well worth exploiting.

They named the main island Mauritius after their ruler at the time, Prince Mauritius van Nassau, and established a settlement in 1638. They governed Mauritius until 1710, when they finally gave up on the financial investment, and the French (already in control of other islands in the region) took over and renamed the island group Isle de France.

In 1810, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, the British captured Mauritius, and the island reverted to its previous name. Independence from the United Kingdom was achieved in 1968.

Answer: Hinduism

Mauritius is the only African country with a Hindu majority, a legacy of the importation of large numbers of indentured workers from India following the abolition of slavery in 1835. Early in the 21st century, just over half of all Mauritians identified themselves as Hindu, with nearly a third being Christian, and a sixth Muslims.

The shrine shown in the photo is located at Grand Bassin, a lake that lies in the crater of an extinct volcano. The temple complex is located around the edges of the lake, but many of them can only be reached by wading through knee-deep water.

Answer: Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago, located a mere 1300 km northeast of the main island of Mauritius. Since it was part of the French Isle de France ceded to the British, Mauritius contends that it was part of their jurisdiction at the time of independence in 1968. However, in 1965 the UK split Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius and Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches from the Seychelles in order to create an entity they termed the British Indian Ocean Territory.

The Seychelles got their islands back on independence, and Mauritius wants theirs back, too.

The argument is based on UN resolutions which precluded the dismemberment of colonial territories before granting independence. The dispute continues in the 21st century, with both nations attempting to work together regarding the Chagos Marine Protected Area, which is one of the world's largest marine protected areas.

Answer: Volcanic island

The Chagos Archipelago is made up of coral atolls, but the main islands of Mauritius are all volcanic in origin. The island of Mauritius was formed about 8 million years ago by submarine volcanic eruptions. The hot spot that was their source has moved over the years, and now lies in the vicinity of Réunion Island. Mauritius has a coastal plain, but most of the island is a plateau encircled by mountains, with rivers flowing through the scars left by lava flows.

The world's third largest coral reef circles the island, creating a series of coastal lagoons.

Answer: Nicobar pigeon

The closest genetic relative to the dodo was the (also extinct) Rodrigues solitaire. These two were the only members of the Raphinae subfamily of the family that includes pigeons and doves.

Dodos were first mentioned in writing in 1598, having been observed by Dutch sailors. Unfortunately, they then hunted it for food, and brought invasive species that also preyed on the dodos and/or their eggs, which they laid in nests on the ground (there having previously been no natural predators on the island). The last sighting of a dodo is accepted to have been in 1662.

The dodo image used in the question came from a painting by Jacob Hoefnagel, in the early 17th century, of a bird held in the collection of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague.

Answer: Mauritius grey white-eye

With any luck, the image helped you eliminate the incorrect options, as the body shape and coloration are inconsistent with any of them. Zosterops mauritianus can be found throughout Mauritius, and (unlike all of the incorrect options) has never been considered in any danger of extinction. In 1974, there were only four known Mauritius kestrels; intensive conservation efforts boosted that number to over 750 in the early 21st century. In the early 1980s, there were only ten known Mauritius parakeets, the only remaining members of the parrot family on the island; by the early years of the 21st century there were around 300 - not many, but a big improvement! The pink pigeon, the only remaining member of the pigeon family on the island, has a similar history of near-extinction and recovery to a precarious but not critical state.

The Mauritius grey white-eye is closely related to the Réunion grey white-eye, with which it was once considered to be part of a single species, called the Mascarene white-eye.

Answer: Seychelles

A number of endemic reptiles are found in Mauritius, particularly on Round Island. These include day geckos (Phelsuma), night geckos (Nactus), skinks and the keel-scaled boa.

Several species of giant tortoise of the genus Cylindraspis formerly inhabited the island but are now extinct. As the largest terrestrial herbivores they performed an important role in the natural Mauritian ecosystem and in the regeneration of the Mauritian forests. For this reason, the Seychelles' Aldabra giant tortoise has been introduced to the Pamplemousses gardens and various patches of remaining Mauritian indigenous forest.

Answer: True

The only mammals that made their way to the island (before humans lent a hand) were bats and marine mammals (dugongs, dolphins, porpoises) in the surrounding ocean waters. The Mauritian flying fox, also called the Mauritius fruit bat and the black-spined flying fox, is the only remaining fruit bat of the two species that were commonly found. The formerly abundant small Mauritian flying fox has been extinct since sometime in the 19th century.

A number of terrestrial mammals are now found on Mauritius, some brought along by accident, others imported intentionally. Their introduction is one of the main reasons for the extinction of much of the unique wildlife previously found in Mauritius, whether from predation or from competition for resources.

Answer: Black River Gorges National Park

While the environmental pressure that has been placed on the fauna of Mauritius is well-known, the loss of native forest as one of the significant factors has only recently been recognised. Less than 2% of the native forest was left intact at the start of the 21st century, most of it in the Black River Gorges National Park, an area of just under 70 square kilometres that was proclaimed in 1994. Although much of the area had been degraded by introduced species, large sections have been fenced off and had the invasive species removed, to help preserve the endemic species. Most of the country's surviving endemic animals can be found here, including the Mauritian flying fox, Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, Mauritius parakeet, Mauritius cuckoo-shrike, Mauritius bulbul, Mauritius olive white-eye, Mauritius grey white-eye and Mauritius fody.

The other three venues are small islands off the coast of Mauritius which have been established as nature reserves. Round Island is especially significant as the home to a number of endemic reptiles, including the Round Island skink, Round Island day gecko, and Round Island boa.