Mauritius Island

Mauritius Island is the island where a majority of New Friends ~ An Environmental Fable takes place. Just like in the movie, the island is the only known habitat of the now-extinct dodo bird species.

History[]

For centuries, the wildlife of Mauritius Island lived their daily lives with few natural predators, such as the Rodrigues warbler, the black-spined Flying Fox, and the famous dodo bird.

In 1507, the first known human settlers on the island, Portuguese sailors led by Captain Miguel, landed on the island and brought animals that decimated the native species, including dogs and rats. However, the Portuguese left shortly after landing, as they were not interested in the island.

In 1598, Dutch settlers claimed the island and exploited the natural resources for their settlements on the island. Throughout the centuries, the island changed hands from one government to another. In 1715, the island went to the French, then was taken by the British in 1810.

In 1968, the island nation won its independence through election, and was proclaimed a republic in 1992. In recent years, the island has become a tourist destination. Despite the centuries-old extinction of the dodo bird, many of the island's native animals still live deep in the island's jungle.

Characters of Residency[]

The following characters are commonly found on Mauritius Island.

Appearances[]

New Friends ~ An Environmental Fable (2013)

Trivia[]

The dodo bird is not the only Mauritius Island native animal to go extinct through human intervention. The Saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise also lived on the island until driven to extinction around the year 1800. One of these was going to appear in New Friends ~ An Environmental Fable, but was cut out when the story was stream-lined and simplified.
Geographically, Mauritius Island is considered part of Africa. Partially because of this, the country has strong ties to several African nations.
The capital of Mauritius is Port Louis.