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local Wednesday 4 OctOber 2023
Unique fauna of Aruba

For a small island, Aruba hunting. These owls have
sure has a lot of unique very good night vision and
treasures. Among these, very good hearing.
we have some subspecies The shoco is the national
of animals that are unique symbol of Aruba.
to our island. These have
evolved to perfectly adapt The shoco has about 20cm
to our desert climate and of length, and the females
make Aruba their home. are slightly heavier than
At the same time, they are the males. They are light
part of what makes Aruba brown in color, with many
truly one of a kind. white spots. The belly of the
Shoco is either white or light
Cascabel (rattlesnake, brown, and the shoco has
Crotalus durissus unicolor) striking yellow eyes. Its beak
According to the Arikok is yellow/green. Young owls
National Park, Aruba knows do not have white spots
two kinds of snakes, the and are lighter in color. population.
Santanero and the Casca-
bel. The cascabel belongs The nest of the shoco is a The prikichi weighs be-
to the rattlesnake family. burrow in the ground. If the tween 90 to 100 grams. It
The cascabel is the only shoco cannot find a bur- has a greenish-brown head
venomous snake from Aru- row, it will dig one in soft with some yellow around
ba. It has a length of 65cm soil. The shoco lays one or the eye. The back and
to 100cm, and is about 4 to two eggs every other day wings of the parakeet are
5cm wide. Its color varies until all the eggs are laid – dark green, and the under-
from light brown to grey- a shoco can lay up to four side of the body is a light-
brown, and its underbelly eggs. The first owlets hatch er shade of green. There
is white. On its back there after three to four weeks. is also a bit of blue in the
are marks that are a little The shoco owl takes care of wings. The parakeet's beak
darker, in the shape of dia- the owlets for three months is gray/black.
monds. until they leave the nest. bit runs. These rabbits can constrictor as well as feral
Only a few owlets survive. Parakeets often use ter- grow up to approximately cats and dogs. However,
Its reproduction is ovipa- mite nests as breeding 40 centimeters in length recently there seem to be
rous, meaning the offspring The owlrs dig burrows in the sites. Parakeets are found over their short lifespan of more rabbit sightings in rural
can hatch from their eggs ground with low grass veg- in all natural environments 3 years. Cottontail rabbits and wilderness areas and
just before, during or imme- etation. An owl can live up (mondi) of the island. It de- reach reproductive ma- also in the National Park.
diately after laying. to nine years. fends itself by flying away turity when they are just 2 This could be linked to a re-
and loud cries. Parakeets to 3 months old. A female cent decline of the invasive
The cascabel lives mainly Its defense mechanism is eat seeds from the pods rabbit, called a doe, finds Boa population after the
in the Arikok National Park. simply to fly away or re- of the Kwihi tree, Divi Divi, a suitable nest spot under long period of drought. As
It likes to live in dark plac- treat to its burrows. They and columnar cactus. They a shrub or rocks and lines it the Conew can reproduce
es, and is thus found hid- eat mostly insects, mice also consume natural fruits. with fur. She can have an very quickly, a short break
den among the limestone and lizards, and the main Its main predators are boa average of 3 to 4 litters per in predation pressure can
rocks and under stones. As threats to their survival are constrictors, humans. year averaging 5 young lead to a fast increase of
a defense mechanism, the boas – an invasive species each. The doe only visits rabbits. Sadly, the Boas are
cascabel uses its rattle as a introduced by humans as Conew (cottontail rabbit, her young once or twice a back on the rise again with
warning, and it is not an ag- pets – and humans through Sylvilagus floridanus nigro- day to nurse her babies for the truly wet rainy seasons
gressive animal. destruction of their habitat. nuchalis) a period of 2 to 3 weeks. we have recently experi-
The Eastern Cottontail rab- The young reach indepen- enced. This could cause a
The cascabel feeds on liz- Prikichi (parakeet, Arat- bit (Sylvilagus floridanus) dence at 4 to 5 weeks. new decline in the Conew
ards, small mammals such inga pertinax) was probably brought over population that was just
as rats and mice. It para- The Prikichi is the national to the island by Indian set- The Aruban Conew is an starting to recover.
lyzes or kills its prey with its bird of Aruba. On Aruba, tlers thousands of years endangered species and
venom, which is injected Bonaire, and Curaçao, par- ago as a source of food. protected by Aruban law. These are but a few of Aru-
through a bite. The en- akeets can be found, but This rabbit, locally known as The Conew is thought to ba’s beautiful inhabitant,
emies of the cascabel are each of the three islands Conew, has spread all over have drastically declined which we must all contrib-
donkeys, goats, humans has a different breed. The the island and has become due to an increase in hu- ute to protect. For more
and cars. Humans are the Yellow-shouldered Amazon part of our ecosystem. The man activities, habitat information, visit https://
biggest enemy of the cas- parakeet that we have on very adaptable Conew fragmentation and preda- www.arubanationalpark.
cabel, as they kill them and Aruba is also found along can live in a wide variety of tion by the invasive Boa org/main/flora-fauna/ q
destroy their habitat for ur- the coast of Venezuela. habitats, including Aruba’s
banization. Unfortunately, there is in- xeric scrublands, where it
terbreeding between the typically grazes on weeds
Shoco (burrowing owl, breeds due to cage birds and grasses.
Athene cunicularia aru- from, for example, Cura-
bensis) çao being released on The Aruban Conew has a
The shoco is a small bird Aruba. The parakeet popu- brownish grey color and a
which is seldom seen. They lation on Aruba is in danger distinctive white belly. This
are active during the day due to extensive deforesta- white fur extends to the
but are more active later tion occurring on the island bottom of the tail which
in the day and at night for because of the growing becomes visible as the rab-