Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species was endemic to the island of Réunion, but is now Extinct. The last record came from 1671-1672, and it had been lost to hunting by c. 1700.
Population justification
No extant population remains.
Trend justification
This species is considered extinct.
Alopochen kervazoi is known only from subfossil bones collected by Bertrand Kervazo in the Grottes des Premiers Français on Réunion (to France) in 1974 (Cowles 1994). Nontekoe mentioned finding geese on the island when he visited in 1619, as did Dubois in 1671-2, but it was not to persist long and the species was specifically mentioned to have become extinct by Boucher in 1710 (Cheke 1987). The specimens are deposited in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (Cowles 1994).
It is thought to have inhabited freshwater pools and lakes.
Over-hunting is thought to be the main cause of extinction for this species, with introduced predators taking chicks and eggs likely a contributing factors (Hume 2017).
Text account compilers
Brooks, T., Richardson, L., Mahood, S., Khwaja, N.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Reunion Shelduck Alopochen kervazoi. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/reunion-shelduck-alopochen-kervazoi on 23/11/2024.
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 23/11/2024.