FAUNA AND FLORA
Before the arrival of man, the forests used to swarm with bats, gigantic land tortoises, snakes, lizards and strange birds. The most conspicuous specimen of the original fauna was the dodo, a plump bird, with a twisted beak, small wings and a round bottom with grey feathers for a tail. Since it was unable to fly, the dodo was exterminated by the Dutch sailors.
The commonest mammals are the Javanese deer, the Malayan Macaque monkey, the Indian black-nape hare and the mongoose which have all been introduced in the island. The reptilian fauna consists of about fifteen species of lizards and four kinds of snakes.
1. Stamp (40cs): Mongoose (herpestes edwardsii)
2. Stamp (Rs2): Hare (lepus nigricollis)
3. Stamp (Rs8): Monkey (macaca fascicularis)
The marine fauna comprises a large number of fish, shells, sea urchins, molluscs and crustaceans.
Stamp: 5 cents shows: Bourse
10 cents shows: Starfish (Bonnet de Prêtre)
15 cents shows: Sea Urchin (Oursin)
20 cents shows: Fiddler Crab (Crabe, c'est ma faute)
25 cents shows: Shrimp (Crevette de mer)
30 cents shows: Single and double Harp Shells
Stamp: 35 cents shows: Argonaute
40 cents shows: Nudibranch (Foulard)
60 cents shows: Sea Urchin (Oursin)
75 cents shows: Conus Clytospira