Cousin: Wildlife Watching and Turtle Conservation

On Cousin, opportunities to watch wildlife go hand in hand with a strong conservation history. In addition to lizards, nesting seabirds and invertebrates, ranger-led tours take visitors to nesting beaches during hawksbill turtle season. Cousin was also declared a nature reserve in 1968 to protect the Seychelles warbler. This offers two perspectives to consider when planning your trip: the wildlife visitors can observe and the history of the protected area.

Watch wildlife on Cousin

Visitors can watch lizards foraging among the leaf litter and seabirds nesting on Cousin. Invertebrates such as crabs, spiders, millipedes and termites can also be observed. This brings different animal groups together: for lizards, the specific observation is their search for food; for seabirds, it is their nesting. The invertebrates provide further examples. Sightings of individual animals are not guaranteed. These encounters are therefore possibilities, not a fixed programme.

Seasonal turtle watching

During hawksbill turtle season, rangers lead tours on Cousin Island along beaches where turtles nest. These tours are tied to the season and therefore differ from the other wildlife-watching opportunities. A tour does not guarantee a turtle sighting. If you are planning your stay specifically around this, check in advance whether the tour is offered during your travel dates.

Turtle monitoring and conservation history

Cousin Island Special Reserve is home to the world’s longest-running hawksbill turtle monitoring programme. Long-term monitoring and seasonal beach tours are two distinct aspects of turtle conservation on Cousin. The nature reserve’s history began with another conservation concern: in 1968, after being acquired by the International Council for Bird Preservation, now BirdLife International, Cousin was declared a nature reserve to protect the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus seychellensis). When the reserve was declared, the focus was therefore on a different species from the one involved in today’s turtle monitoring.

Nature areas in the Seychelles destination

Other nature and conservation experiences can be found elsewhere in the Seychelles destination. On Curieuse, a mangrove swamp borders Baie Laraie. A raised boardwalk runs through the swamp and provides access to the mangrove habitat even at high tide. Curieuse was used for almost a hundred years as a quarantine site for people with leprosy, adding a historical perspective to its natural environment.

On Praslin, Praslin National Park is home to endemic, native and indigenous plants, as well as various insects and other animals, including the Black Parrot, which is unique to Praslin and the surrounding islets. The park has several short paths; Glacis Noire is the only official trail. Vallée de Mai on Praslin, at 19.5 hectares, is one of the world’s smallest natural UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also the only area in the Seychelles where all six species occur together. The Seychelles destination therefore offers a range of themes, from wildlife watching and conservation history on Cousin to the mangroves on Curieuse and the nature areas on Praslin.

Discover more destinations: Grand Anse, Anse Kerlan.

View the main travel overview: Grand Anse Praslin.