Page 14 - AHATA

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local Tuesday 18 November 2025
Unique fauna of Aruba

For a small island, Aruba urbanization.
sure has a lot of unique
treasures. Among these, Shoco (burrowing owl,
we have some subspecies Athene cunicularia aru-
of animals that are unique bensis)
to our island. These have The shoco is a small bird
evolved to perfectly adapt which is seldom seen. They
to our desert climate and are active during the day
make Aruba their home. At but are more active later
the same time, they are part in the day and at night for
of what makes Aruba truly hunting. These owls have
one of a kind. very good night vision and
very good hearing. The sho-
Cascabel (rattlesnake, co is the national symbol of
Crotalus durissus unicolor) Aruba.
According to the Arikok Na-
tional Park, Aruba knows two The shoco has about 20cm
kinds of snakes, the Santan- of length, and the females
ero and the Cascabel. The are slightly heavier than
cascabel belongs to the the males. They are light
rattlesnake family. The cas- brown in color, with many Prikichi (parakeet, Arat- flying away and loud cries. are just 2 to 3 months old. A
cabel is the only venomous white spots. The belly of the inga pertinax) Parakeets eat seeds from the female rabbit, called a doe,
snake from Aruba. It has a shoco is either white or light The Prikichi is the national pods of the Kwihi tree, Divi finds a suitable nest spot un-
length of 65cm to 100cm, brown, and the shoco has bird of Aruba. On Aruba, Divi, and columnar cactus. der a shrub or rocks and lines
and is about 4 to 5cm striking yellow eyes. Its beak Bonaire, and Curaçao, They also consume natural it with fur. She can have an
wide. Its color varies from is yellow/green. Young owls parakeets can be found, fruits. Its main predators are average of 3 to 4 liters per
light brown to grey-brown, do not have white spots and but each of the three islands boa constrictors, humans. year averaging 5 young
and its underbelly is white. are lighter in color. has a different breed. The each. The doe only visits
On its back there are marks Yellow-shouldered Amazon Coneu (cottontail rabbit, her young once or twice a
that are a little darker, in the The nest of the shoco is a parakeet that we have on Sylvilagus floridanus nigro- day to nurse her babies for
shape of diamonds. burrow in the ground. If the Aruba is also found along nuchalis) a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The
shoco cannot find a burrow, the coast of Venezuela. The Eastern Cottontail rab- young reach independence
Its reproduction is oviparous, it will dig one in soft soil. The Unfortunately, there is in- bit (Sylvilagus floridanus) at 4 to 5 weeks.
meaning the offspring can shoco lays one or two eggs terbreeding between the was probably brought over
hatch from their eggs just be- every other day until all the breeds due to cage birds to the island by Indian set- The Aruban Coneu is an en-
fore, during or immediately eggs are laid – a shoco can from, for example, Curaçao tlers thousands of years dangered species and pro-
after laying. lay up to four eggs. The first being released on Aruba. ago as a source of food. tected by Aruban law. The
owlets hatch after three to The parakeet population on This rabbit, locally known as Coneu is thought to have
The cascabel lives mainly four weeks. The shoco owl Aruba is in danger due to ex- Coneu, has spread all over drastically declined due to
in the Arikok National Park. takes care of the owlets for tensive deforestation occur- the island and has become an increase in human activi-
It likes to live in dark plac- three months until they leave ring on the island because part of our ecosystem. The ties, habitat fragmentation
es, and is thus found hid- the nest. Only a few owlets of the growing population. very adaptable Coneu can and predation by the inva-
den among the limestone survive. live in a wide variety of habi- sive Boa constrictor as well
rocks and under stones. As The prikichi weighs between tats, including Aruba’s xeric as feral cats and dogs. How-
a defense mechanism, the The owls dig burrows in the 90 to 100 grams. It has a scrublands, where it typi- ever, recently there seem to
cascabel uses its rattle as a ground with low grass veg- greenish-brown head with cally grazes on weeds and be more rabbit sightings in
warning, and it is not an ag- etation. An owl can live up some yellow around the eye. grasses. rural and wilderness areas
gressive animal. to nine years. The back and wings of the and also in the National
parakeet are dark green, The Aruban Coneu has a Park. This could be linked to
The cascabel feeds on liz- Its defense mechanism is sim- and the underside of the brownish grey color and a a recent decline of the inva-
ards, small mammals such ply to fly away or retreat to body is a lighter shade of distinctive white belly. This sive Boa population after the
as rats and mice. It paralyzes its burrows. They eat mostly green. There is also a bit of white fur extends to the long period of drought. As
or kills its prey with its venom, insects, mice and lizards, blue in the wings. The para- bottom of the tail which be- the Coneu can reproduce
which is injected through a and the main threats to keet’s beak is gray/black. comes visible as the rabbit very quickly, a short break in
bite. The enemies of the cas- their survival are boas – an runs. These rabbits can grow predation pressure can lead
cabel are donkeys, goats, invasive species introduced Parakeets often use termite up to approximately 40 cen- to a fast increase of rabbits.
humans and cars. Humans by humans as pets – and hu- nests as breeding sites. Para- timeters in length over their These are but a few of Aru-
are the biggest enemy of the mans through destruction of keets are found in all natu- short lifespan of 3 years. Cot- ba’s beautiful inhabitant,
cascabel, as they kill them their habitat. ral environments (mondi) of tontail rabbits reach repro- which we must all contribute
and destroy their habitat for the island. It defends itself by ductive maturity when they to protect. q