Monitoring the Translocation Successes of Aride Island’s giant tortoises

For three months, I lived on Aride Island, a haven for wildlife in the Indian Ocean, where seabirds rule the skies and giant tortoises slowly roam on the forest floor. Aride Island offered me a rare opportunity to immerse myself in nature and spend my days studying and living alongside the iconic Aldabra giant tortoise.
My Research
My project focused on understanding the feeding preferences and behaviour of Aldabra giant tortoises, both wild-raised and captive-raised. Aride has a small population of these gentle giants that had been roaming free on the islands for a few years, and a recent translocation of juvenile tortoises that had been raised in captivity to the island provided the ideal subjects for my research. For my project, I used a combination of observational surveys, dung analysis, and controlled feeding choice experiments to get a comprehensive picture of what these gentle herbivores were eating and how they were influencing the ecosystem.

Any potential differences in feeding preferences between the two groups would have important consequences for the seed dispersal of native plant species on the island (including the Indian-Almond and endemic Wright’s Gardenia). Therefore, the results of this study could inform future reintroduction efforts of the Aldabra giant tortoise on Aride and other islands.

Living on Aride
Living in such proximity to wildlife was one of the most rewarding—and sometimes surprising—parts of my time on Aride. I shared space with skinks in the kitchen, watched seabirds raise their chicks just metres from my bedroom, and frequently had to pause data collection for a stubborn tortoise refusing to approach any of the food items offered up during a feeding experiment. With no distractions from modern life, I learned to slow down, observe more deeply, and appreciate the complex dynamics of this fragile ecosystem.

Gazing into the ancient, weathered face of a giant tortoise felt like looking back in time. Their deeply wrinkled skin and deliberate, unhurried movements through the forest carried an unmistakable echo of the Jurassic era. Each tortoise had its distinct personality, some were shy whilst others were bold, and over my weeks on Aride, I came to know each of them individually.

The one tortoise that stood out from the very beginning was a remarkably spirited male known on the island as T-Rex. True to his name, T-Rex was the most fearless and charismatic of the group. While most tortoises would hiss and retreat into their shells at the sight of a human, T-Rex would march straight up to visitors, expectantly leaning in for scratches. His confidence and curiosity made him a constant presence, and by the time I left Aride, it felt like he had left just as much of a mark on me, as I had on him.

Aside from tortoises, as part of my research, I also had to learn to identify the flora found on Aride. This gave me a deep appreciation of the beautiful plant life found on Aride and across the Seychelles. I am especially going to miss wandering beneath the towering, crimson-leaved Indian-Almond trees on the coastal plateaux, and amongst the forests of endemic Wright’s Gardenia on the East hill. A highlight of the three months was being able to experience the Wright’s Gardenia in flower for the short few days that this occurs yearly.

Beyond my time on Aride, weekly shopping trips to Praslin gave me the chance to enjoy the delicious food from the reggae bar in Grande Anse every Friday. It was here that I developed a love for creole food, especially fish coconut curry, which may be the thing I miss most from the Seychelles!
However, it was the small community of people living on Aride that really made my time on the island. Whether it was one of the incredible fish BBQs Steve provided for us, or the support the island’s conservation officers, Emma and Maria, provided at the beginning of my data collection, I was made to feel welcome on the island and part of the community.

To Future Researchers
To future researchers and volunteers who are fortunate enough to spend time on Aride, my strongest recommendation would be to take the time to explore the island and fully embrace the stillness and peace that it offers. Aride is one of the rare places left on Earth where the natural world remains largely undisturbed, and thus where you can truly feel what it means to be immersed in the wild.