Wild Tobago

This week, Dr Amy Deacon, Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club continues her series on the biodiversity of the Main Ridge Reserve (MRR). Today, she teams up with UWI Entomologist Raj Mahabir to introduce us to the beetles of the MRR. When you think about the biodiversity of the main Ridge Forest Reserve, which creature springs to mind? The sabrewing hummingbird? The blue-backed manakin? The agouti? It is probably safe to bet that you are not imagining a dung beetle. Today, we are here to convince you that these smaller inhabitants of the MRR are just as important and interesting as the more familiar animals associated with Tobago’s forests. Almost a third of all insects are beetles – more than 300,000 species worldwide. They are distinguished by their hard outer wings, which protect the delicate flight wings underneath. At least 700 species are found in Tob...

This week Amy Deacon, Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club continues her series on the biodiversity of the Main Ridge Reserve (MRR). Today, she teams up with herpetologist Renoir Auguste to introduce us to the snakes of the MRR.    Tobago has about 25 species of snake, none of which are venomous. Most of these species can be found in and around the Main Ridge. Among them are the Boa Constrictor - the largest snake on the island; the Brown Vine Snake - a common snake also found in gardens; and the Tobago False Coral  – which can be found nowhere else in the world! Together these three species highlight just some of the different shapes, sizes and habits of snake fauna found in the reserve. Reaching an intimidating 4 metres long, the Macajuel (Boa constrictor) is the largest snake on the island. Within the Main Ridge it is fairly common, and may be f...

This week Amy Deacon, Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club resumes her series on the biodiversity of the Main Ridge Reserve (MRR). Today, we will visit the mammals of the MRR. The most abundant mammals in the forest by far are the flying ones – the bats - but we will save those amazing creatures for another article. Here we will focus on the wingless mammals that make the Reserve their home. First published in the Tobago Newsday on July 10, 2017 Many will be surprised to learn that Tobago supports 36 native mammals – 16 if you don’t include the bats. I have chosen three of the most interesting of Tobago’s mammals to highlight in today’s column, to convince you that we have lots to learn even about the most charismatic of the Main Ridge’s inhabitants. The Robinson's Mouse Opossum. This rather cute and compact marsupial spends much of its time up in...

In this week’s column Amy Deacon, Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club, returns to the Main Ridge. This time, we dip our nets into the cool, glistening streams that run through the reserve and see what we might catch! This feature was first published in the Tobago Newsday on March 16, 2017. Thirteen species of freshwater fish have been recorded in Tobago, but only a handful of these have successfully conquered the Main Ridge. While we humans can easily drive along the Roxborough – Parlatuvier road to access the reserve, fish must initially colonise inland from the sea. In North East Tobago, fish in the lower reaches moving upstream soon reach one of many waterfall barriers at the edge of the Ridge. Often these are tens of metres high, much like those at Argyll. Most fish will never manage to traverse these barriers, forever restricted to the lowland rivers. Only...

What’s special about Tobago’s terrestrial flora and fauna? Start with the fact that the Main Ridge Reserve is the oldest protected forest in the western hemisphere, and everything gets better! Amy Deacon, Lecturer in the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine and Secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club, looks at some of Tobago’s special creatures. Tobago’s Main Ridge Reserve was given legal protection in 1776; a historic act that marked the start of the global environmental movement, and helped ensure that the forest and its biodiversity is still thriving today. Over the coming weeks we will consider some of the highlights of this biodiversity, and what makes Tobago’s flora and fauna so special. In this article, we will consider some of the island’s most iconic bird species. The White-tailed Sabrewing stretches its wings. Photo courtesy Wendell Stephen Jay Reyes Over 220 species of bird can be found on Tobago, 27 of ...