Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
Île de la Possession is the largest of the five Crozet Islands. Its mountainous landscape is cut by deep glaciated valleys. The valleys and coastal areas are covered in subantarctic vegetation. Black rats occur over most of the island. The island is uninhabited by man except for a research station on the eastern tip of the island, staffed by approximately 20 people.
See Box for key species. At least 28 species breed. In addition to those given below, these include 2,000 pairs of
Pygoscelis papua, 1,150 pairs
Phoebetria palpebrata and 84 pairs of
Macronectes giganteus. Numbers of
Anas eatoni and
Chionis minor are believed to exceed thresholds, but no quantitative data are available. Ten pairs of
Diomedea chrysostoma were recorded breeding in 1984. The smaller species breed only at higher altitudes due to the presence of rats lower down.
Non-bird biodiversity: Two species of fur seal breed on the island, Arctocephalus gazella and A. tropicalis, with respectively, 87 and 190 pups in 1991. Numbers have been increasing recently with the cessation of hunting. In 1997, 570 female Mirounga leonina bred. The coastal waters are inhabited by approximately 80 Orcinus orca (LR/cd). Two plants and 59 arthropod species endemic to the Îles Crozet occur.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Access to several parts of the island important for wildlife is restricted as they have been declared ‘Areas restricted to scientific and technical research’. Rats seriously affect the breeding of numerous species of petrel.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Île de la Possession (French Southern Territories). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/île-de-la-possession-iba-french-southern-territories on 22/12/2024.
