Pink pigeon

Pink pigeon
on Île aux Aigrettes, Mauritius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Nesoenas
Species:
N. mayeri
Binomial name
Nesoenas mayeri
(Prévost, 1843)
Synonyms
  • Columba mayeri Prévost, 1843
  • Streptopelia mayeri: Johnson et al., 2001

The pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) is a species of pigeon in the family Columbidae endemic to Mauritius. The pink pigeon nearly became extinct in the 1970s and the 1990s and is still very rare. It is the only Mascarene pigeon that has not become extinct.[2][3] It was on the brink of extinction in 1991 when only 10 individuals remained, but its numbers have increased due to the efforts of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust since 1977. While the population remains at below 500 birds as of 2011, the IUCN downlisted the species from Critically endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2000, and then downlisted it again to Vulnerable in 2018.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Nesoenas mayeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22690392A131665077. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22690392A131665077.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ Hume, J.P. (2011). "Systematics, morphology, and ecology of pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with three new species" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3124: 1–62. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3124.1.1. ISSN 1175-5326.
  3. ^ "Mauritius' pink pigeon faces extinction threat from inbreeding". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-05-25.