First records of two duck species for Western Indian Ocean |05 May 2025

Cotton pygmy goose at Intendance, the first record for the western Indian Ocean (Photo: Contributed)
First records of two duck species for Western Indian Ocean
By Adrian Skerrett
The wetland within the grounds of Cheval Blanc 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Resort on Mahe is one of the finest remaining wetland habitats in 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ.
Here, Marine Conservation Society 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ (MCSS) has been engaged as environmental consultants. One morning in June 2024, during an MCSS tour of the wetlands, Chris Mason-Parker and Rebecca Filippin spotted an unusual small black and white duck they had not seen before. From references they identified it as a species never recorded previously in 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, cotton pygmy goose.Â