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LOCAL Tuesday 9 april 2024

Unique fauna of Aruba

For a small island, Aruba sure cars. Humans are the biggest vival are boas – an invasive
has a lot of unique treasures. enemy of the cascabel, as species introduced by hu-
Among these, we have some they kill them and destroy mans as pets – and humans
subspecies of animals that are their habitat for urbanization. through destruction of their
unique to our island. These habitat.
have evolved to perfectly Shoco (burrowing owl,
adapt to our desert climate Athene cunicularia Prikichi (parakeet,
and make Aruba their home. arubensis) Aratinga pertinax)
At the same time, they are The shoco is a small bird which The Prikichi is the national bird
part of what makes Aruba is seldom seen. They are ac- of Aruba. On Aruba, Bonaire,
truly one of a kind. tive during the day but are and Curaçao, parakeets can
more active later in the day be found, but each of the
Cascabel (rattlesnake, and at night for hunting. These three islands has a different
Crotalus durissus unicolor) owls have very good night breed. The Yellow-shouldered Sylvilagus floridanus young reach independence
According to the Arikok Na- vision and very good hearing. Amazon parakeet that we nigronuchalis) at 4 to 5 weeks.
tional Park, Aruba knows two The shoco is the national have on Aruba is also found The Eastern Cottontail rab-
kinds of snakes, the Santanero symbol of Aruba. along the coast of Venezuela. bit (Sylvilagus floridanus) was The Aruban Conew is an en-
and the Cascabel. The casca- The shoco has about 20cm Unfortunately, there is inter- probably brought over to the dangered species and pro-
bel belongs to the rattlesnake of length, and the females breeding between the breeds island by Indian settlers thou- tected by Aruban law. The
family. The cascabel is the are slightly heavier than the due to cage birds from, for sands of years ago as a source Conew is thought to have
only venomous snake from males. They are light brown in example, Curaçao being re- of food. This rabbit, locally drastically declined due to
Aruba. It has a length of 65cm color, with many white spots. leased on Aruba. The para- known as Conew, has spread an increase in human ac-
to 100cm, and is about 4 to The belly of the Shoco is ei- keet population on Aruba is all over the island and has be- tivities, habitat fragmenta-
5cm wide. Its color varies from ther white or light brown, and in danger due to extensive come part of our ecosystem. tion and predation by the
light brown to grey-brown, the shoco has striking yellow deforestation occurring on The very adaptable Conew invasive Boa constrictor as
and its underbelly is white. eyes. Its beak is yellow/green. the island because of the can live in a wide variety of well as feral cats and dogs.
On its back there are marks Young owls do not have white growing population. habitats, including Aruba’s However, recently there seem
that are a little darker, in the spots and are lighter in color. xeric scrublands, where it to be more rabbit sightings
shape of diamonds. The prikichi weighs between typically grazes on weeds in rural and wilderness areas
The nest of the shoco is a 90 to 100 grams. It has a and grasses. and also in the National Park.
Its reproduction is oviparous, burrow in the ground. If the greenish-brown head with This could be linked to a re-
meaning the offspring can shoco cannot find a burrow, some yellow around the eye. The Aruban Conew has a cent decline of the invasive
hatch from their eggs just be- it will dig one in soft soil. The The back and wings of the brownish grey color and a dis- Boa population after the
fore, during or immediately shoco lays one or two eggs parakeet are dark green, and tinctive white belly. This white long period of drought. As
after laying. every other day until all the the underside of the body fur extends to the bottom of the Conew can reproduce
eggs are laid – a shoco can is a lighter shade of green. the tail which becomes vis- very quickly, a short break in
The cascabel lives mainly in lay up to four eggs. The first There is also a bit of blue in the ible as the rabbit runs. These predation pressure can lead
the Arikok National Park. It owlets hatch after three to wings. The parakeet's beak rabbits can grow up to ap- to a fast increase of rabbits.
likes to live in dark places, and four weeks. The shoco owl is gray/black. proximately 40 centimeters in Sadly, the Boas are back on
is thus found hidden among takes care of the owlets for Parakeets often use termite length over their short lifespan the rise again with the truly
the limestone rocks and under three months until they leave nests as breeding sites. Para- of 3 years. Cottontail rabbits wet rainy seasons we have
stones. As a defense mecha- the nest. Only a few owlets keets are found in all natu- reach reproductive maturi- recently experienced. This
nism, the cascabel uses its survive. ral environments (mondi) of ty when they are just 2 to 3 could cause a new decline
rattle as a warning, and it is The owlrs dig burrows in the the island. It defends itself by months old. A female rabbit, in the Conew population that
not an aggressive animal. ground with low grass veg- flying away and loud cries. called a doe, finds a suitable was just starting to recover.
etation. An owl can live up Parakeets eat seeds from the nest spot under a shrub or
The cascabel feeds on lizards, to nine years. pods of the Kwihi tree, Divi rocks and lines it with fur. She These are but a few of Aruba’s
small mammals such as rats Divi, and columnar cactus. can have an average of 3 to beautiful inhabitant, which
and mice. It paralyzes or kills Its defense mechanism is sim- They also consume natural 4 litters per year averaging we must all contribute to
its prey with its venom, which ply to fly away or retreat to fruits. Its main predators are 5 young each. The doe only protect. For more informa-
is injected through a bite. The its burrows. They eat mostly boa constrictors, humans. visits her young once or twice tion, visit https://www.aru-
enemies of the cascabel are insects, mice and lizards, and a day to nurse her babies for banationalpark.org/main/
donkeys, goats, humans and the main threats to their sur- Conew (cottontail rabbit, a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The flora-fauna/ q