Silhouette Island
Encyclopedia
Mahé, Seychelles
Mahé is the largest island of the Seychelles, lying in the north east of the nation. The population of Mahé is 80,000. It contains the capital city of Victoria and accommodates 90% of the country's total population...
in the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
. It is the third largest island in the Seychelles. It has an area of 20 km² and has a population of 135, mostly workers on the island. The main settlement is La Passe, where there is a hotel for visitors to Silhouette. The name Silhouette was given after Etienne de Silhouette
Étienne de Silhouette
Étienne de Silhouette was a French Controller-General of Finances under Louis XV.He was born in Limoges where his father Arnaud de Silhouette was sent....
(1709-1767), the French minister of finances under Louis XV.
The island is mountainous with five peaks over 500 metres in elevation; Mont Dauban (740m), Mont-Pot-a-Eau (621m), Gratte Fesse (515m) Mont Corgat (502m) and Mont Cocos Marrons (500m). As such it has some of the most dramatic scenery of the islands.
From the mid 19th century until 1960, the island was owned by the Dauban family, who were originally from France but had settled in Mauritius in 1830. The Dauban family were responsible for developing extensive plantations on Silhouette. There is a Mausoleum built in the style of La Madaleine in Paris %C3%89glise de la Madeleine, where a number of the family members are buried including Auguste Dauban, whose business ventures were so extensive he earned the nickname, the "Rothschild of the Indian Ocean". The Dauban plantation house has recently been restored.
Silhouette Island is situated within a Marine National Park and is dedicated to environmental protection. It is one of the richest biodiversity hot-spots in the western Indian Ocean with many endemic and threatened plant and animal species. The island has a large area of primeval forest and supports the last known roosts of the Seychelles sheath-tailed bat
Seychelles Sheath-tailed Bat
The Seychelles sheath-tailed bat is a sac-winged bat. It occurs in the central granitic islands of the Seychelles Islands north of Madagascar...
Coleura seychellensis. The island is an Important Bird Area and is considered by the Alliance for Zero Extinction http://www.zeroextinction.org/factsheets/silhouette.pdf to be an important site for the survival of Critically Endangered species. The Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles manages conservation on the island and has a breeding centre for the extinct-in-the-wild Seychelles giant tortoise
Seychelles giant tortoise
The Seychelles giant tortoise has been thought to be extinct since the mid-19th century due to overexploitation on the granitic Seychelles islands. Similar giant tortoise species on other Indian Ocean islands such as Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues Island are also extinct...
s and Arnold's Giant Tortoise
Arnold's Giant Tortoise
Arnold's giant tortoise , also known as the Seychelles saddle-backed tortoise, inhabited the granitic Seychelles islands until around 1840, when it was presumed to be extinct, along with the Seychelles giant tortoise; a species which shared the same islands.The report of oddly-shaped of tortoises...
s. In December 2006, the latter species was re-established in the wild. Conservation of the island is managed by the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles
Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles
- Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles :The was established in 1992 as the first environmental non-governmental organisation registered in Seychelles....
.
The island is surrounded by a rich marine environment, including a coral barrier reef and granite cliffs. The coral habitats are exceptionally healthy and there are many good diving sites, although strong currents may limit swimming or water-sports. On a clear day, one can experience spectacular views of the north coast of Mahé.
The granitic island is reputedly a site of mediaeval graves of passing Maldivian
Maldivian
Maldivian may refer to:* Maldivian people , the ethnic group inhabiting the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising what is now officially the Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in Union territory of Lakshadweep, India....
and Arab sailors. Remains of Maldivian mariner presence from the 12th century were found on Silhouette Island, although purported Arab graves date back only 200 years. Also there is a legend in the Seychelles that the corsair Jean-Francois Hodoul
Jean-Francois Hodoul
Jean-Francois Hodoul was a corsair who worked in the employ of the French government.In the 1790s he worked as a ships' captain transporting slaves from Africa to the Indian Ocean colonies of Ile Bourbon and Ile de France...
buried his treasure on Silhouette Island.
Species of interest
- Coleura seychellensis, the Seychelles sheath-tailed batSeychelles Sheath-tailed BatThe Seychelles sheath-tailed bat is a sac-winged bat. It occurs in the central granitic islands of the Seychelles Islands north of Madagascar...
- Seychelles giant tortoiseSeychelles giant tortoiseThe Seychelles giant tortoise has been thought to be extinct since the mid-19th century due to overexploitation on the granitic Seychelles islands. Similar giant tortoise species on other Indian Ocean islands such as Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues Island are also extinct...
- Schefflera procumbensSchefflera procumbensSchefflera procumbens is a species of plant in the Araliaceae family. It is endemic to Seychelles, now confined to six small areas on Silhouette Island at altitudes between 400 and 700 meters, having become extinct on Mahé....