Page 15 - AHATA

Friday 12 September 2025 locAl
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Unique fauna of Aruba

For a small island, Aruba ards, small mammals such
sure has a lot of unique as rats and mice. It para-
treasures. Among these, lyzes or kills its prey with its
we have some subspecies venom, which is injected
of animals that are unique through a bite. The en-
to our island. These have emies of the cascabel are
evolved to perfectly adapt donkeys, goats, humans
to our desert climate and and cars. Humans are the
make Aruba their home. biggest enemy of the cas-
At the same time, they are cabel, as they kill them and
part of what makes Aruba destroy their habitat for ur-
truly one of a kind. banization.

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