Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was found in the Mascarene Islands, but has been extinct since the early 1700s. The drivers of its decline are unknown, but hunting and introduced predators are presumed to have contributed.
Population justification
No extant population remains.
Trend justification
Little is known about this species, known only from subfossil remains and contemporary accounts (Hume 2017). On Mauritius they were considered rare in 1693 (Leguat 1708), and likely disappeared shortly after this time, but persisted on Réunion potentially until the late 17th century (Hume 2017). However, even in the 1600s the species was observed to be in serious decline (Lougnon 1970). Both populations presumably went extinct as a result of over-hunting and introduced predators (Hume 2017).
Fulica newtonii is known from numerous travellers' reports (Cheke 1987) and bones (Cowles 1987) from Réunion (to France), and Mauritius.
Nothing is known, but it is likely to have been typical of the genus.
The species presumably went extinct as a result of over-hunting and introduced predators (Hume 2017).
Text account compilers
Symes, A., Brooks, T., Khwaja, N., Mahood, S., Richardson, L.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Mascarene Coot Fulica newtonii. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/mascarene-coot-fulica-newtonii on 01/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 01/12/2024.