MICHAEL CARABOTT

The mating season on St Paul’s Islands kicked off with a bang yesterday as three prime species of the endemic male lizard were released back into the wild as part of a drive to boost the declining population of the lizard – Podarcis filofensis kieselbach.

The project was carried out by the Nature Protection Unit of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority through cash donated by the HSBC Cares for the Environment Fund.

A study, commissioned in 2006, established that the lizard population seemed to be suffering greatly due to the proliferation of rats on St Paul’s Islands, which are also known as Selmunett. Nadia Suda Lanzon from the Environment Protection Directorate explained that the population of rats exploded on the islands as they began to migrate from the mainland. “Yes, they do actually swim across,” she told bemused journalists on the islands yesterday.

The rats were killed with poison which was specially marked and housed so as not to interfere with other life forms. In addition, some alien vegetation – including the wild spreading prickly pear – was also removed.

Ms Suda Lanzon explained that the first step of the project was to actually monitor life on the island(s) and it was noted that there seemed to be many more female lizards than male. “The rats were killing them and the population was definitely in decline,” she said. Asked what could have contributed to rats migrating to the islands, she explained: “Well, rats eat anything and they were mainly attracted to the rubbish that people sometimes leave behind,” she said.

She said that from the monitoring that took place, it seemed that the native lizard was actually endangered. “Hence this project, and we released them this week because it is the mating season, so we hope that the re-introduction of these three males who were taken away as a precaution will help bolster the ranks,” said Ms Suda Lanzon.

She explained that the garigue landscape of St Paul’s Islands was the ideal habitat for the lizards. They were, in fact, released not on the island housing St Paul’s statue, but the other.

“The lizards do also enjoy living in rubble walls, so the next phase of the project will involve rebuilding some of the walls on the main island so as to create a more favourable habitat for them,” she said.

She explained that the lizards on St Paul’s Islands were slightly different from the ones found in Malta. “These are slightly larger and the males have a yellow chest and a black-spotted back,” she said.

She also explained that while the islands had been designated a special conservation area in 2003, more needed to be done to protect the wildlife there. “At present, access is restricted to between sunrise and sundown – but we want to see more. We want the islands to be accessible by footpaths that are clearly set out according to law,” she said.

The actual release of the animals was a bit of an anti-climax. Similar to when other species are released into the wild, the lizards were at first extremely reluctant to venture out of their plastic pens. However, with a bit of coaxing, they did eventually come out and sit in the sun. As always, nature’s law takes over and one by one, the lizards scuttled off into the vegetation where, although you knew they were still there, they became invisible to the eye.

One wonders what is so special about a lizard, but when a person actually sees the difference in behaviour of the same lizard captive in a plastic pen, then in the wild – the answer becomes all too clear. We have a lot to do with declining animal populations. Many might say that the release of three lizards is insignificant – but it’s not, it’s essential to a species’ survival.

Mepa chairman Andrew Calleja commented about the event: “The Nature Protection Unit is appealing for people to abide by the rules and refrain from accessing the islands after sunset and to avoid camping and barbecues. We also remind the public that all species on the islands are protected and that capture and collection is prohibited.”