Why Tenerife is a paradise for naturalists

Tenerife is a naturalist’s dream

Tenerife forested mountains

Tenerife is a popular island in the Canary Islands for tourists who spend their holidays there but it is also every naturalist’s dream. With its forests, mountains, semi-desert areas, cliffs, sand dunes and range of beaches there is a real diversity of habitats. There are so many types of countryside on the island, and also a range of very different microclimates. This is why so many forms of flora and fauna can be found there, both endemic species and introduced and naturalised plants and animals.

Laurel Pigeon (Photo: DrPhilipLehmann)

There are two main sorts of forests: pine forest and ancient evergreen laurel forest. The latter of these is very important because the patches of this type of woodland that still stand on Tenerife and some of the other Canary Islands are some of the only remaining stretches of this form of forest in the world. Rare birds, such as the laurel pigeon (Columba junoniae) and endemic plants like the Canary Islands foxglove (Isoplexis canariensis) can be found in the laurel forests.

Viper's Bugloss species

Red Bugloss

Tenerife has a very great range of species in the Echium genus of viper’s bugloss. The most spectacular species is the red bugloss or Teide bugloss (Echium wildpretii), which as its name suggests has red flowers that form in tall spikes, and it is found growing high on Mt Teide where there is a very extreme habitat. Because it is so high the sunlight is very strong but it gets very cold at night. The ground is dry and rocky and it looks like another planet in the Tenerife highlands.
There is a shortage of naturally occurring freshwater in Tenerife because it drains quickly into the ground and down to the sea after it rains but this has not prevented a fascinating selection of freshwater creatures and water birds being found on the island. Many species of dragonfly, two species of frog and the mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) mainly depend on the reservoirs and irrigation tanks used by farmers for collecting water for their crops. The frogs, by the way, are the Mediterranean tree-frog (Hyla meridionalis), and the Iberian water frog (Rana perezii). In the village of Erjos, however, there are some large ponds that formed after the topsoil was removed many years ago. These pools attracted all sorts of wildlife and make a wonderful area for appreciating nature and walking in the surrounding hills and forests. 

Grey Heron

The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a bird that uses natural and artificial freshwater pools to search for fish and frogs and is often seen on the island. It will also take goldfish from ornamental ponds in parks and gardens.

Tenerife has lizard species, two types of gecko and a skink but no snakes, despite having excellent habitats for these reptiles.

Monarch butterfly

There are many interesting insects to be found on the island. A butterfly to look out for is the monarch (Danaus plexippus). It was able to colonise the Canary Islands because the tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is often grown in gardens, flower borders and parks. This large and beautiful butterfly can be seen flying all year round and is most often seen in cities, towns and resorts where its caterpillar’s food-plant grows in gardens. The massive and strange looking death’s head hawk moth and its larva are often found on Tenerife. This moth gets its name due to the skull-like marking on its thorax. The fact that it can squeak too has added to its weirdness and has made it the subject of various superstitions. The caterpillars are very big and feed mostly on thorn-apple (Datura stramonium), which is a very common weed on the island, and also on the shrub Lantana (Lantana camara).  There are also some species of praying mantis that can be found on Tenerife.

Mantis

Botanists will be excited by the very large number of succulents that grow wild on Tenerife. There are many endemic species of Aeonium and Euphorbia. The Canary Island spurge (Euphorbia canariensis) looks more like a cactus and grows in large clumps on arid and rocky ground around the island.

Look out too for the prehistoric-looking dragon trees (Dracaena draco), which can still be found occasionally growing wild but are very rare. They are much more commonly seen in parks and gardens around Tenerife, and there is the famous “Drago Milenario,” said to be 1,000-years-old that is in its own park in Icod de los Vinos.

If you are interested in wildlife you will find plenty to interest you wherever you are on the island.

Is the Chupacabra just a Kinkajou?

What is a Chupacabra? 

The chupacabra is a creature that is the subject of an ongoing myth. Its name translates from the Spanish as "goat-sucker," and, indeed, the animal is reported to be carnivorous and to act like a vampire in sucking the blood from its prey.  It is said to be like a small bear with spines on its back and it has claws and fangs. Other descriptions liken it to some sort of reptilian creature. Some stories that have circulated in conspiracy theory, the world of the paranormal and in ufology have suggested the chupacabra is an alien animal, the product of genetic engineering in secret experiments, a hybrid and even a demon or a life-form from another dimension. 

Chupacabra (Public Domain)

The chupacabra was first reported from Puerto Rico in the mid-1990s but soon after other reports started circulating of sightings of this weird creature in other parts of Central and South America. It wasn't long before the chupacabra was seen in North America and even in Tenerife in the Spanish-speaking Canary Islands. The chupacabra was reportedly seen in the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Brazil and Mexico. It is usually seen at night and domestic animals, such as sheep and goats, that it is said to have attacked are drained of blood. This ties in with reports of animal mutilation cases, said to have been done by aliens. Reports circulate in ufology about cattle and other animals that have been killed and had parts of their bodies surgically removed with great precision and the blood being drained.  Of course, there is also the link with the very real vampire bats which do feed on blood. Lots of videos exist on YouTube and elsewhere that are said to prove, or at least question, the reality of the chupacabra. 

The world of science and rationality is not convinced about the truth of any of these reports and  of the animals that have been photographed or captured on film, most have been identified as some type of dog, including coyotes, that is suffering badly from the condition known as mange, which makes the fur fall out.

The Kinkajou

Kinkajou (Public Domain)

The Kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a rainforest mammal related to raccoons and its range is throughout many parts of Central and South America, which just happens to be where the chupacabra is reported. It is also known as a honey bear and normally feeds on fruit and leaves but also eats, insects and the eggs of birds. It is often hunted for its fur, its meat and for the exotic pet trade. Because of its wide distribution it is not yet regarded as an endangered species of animal. 

Kinkajous are often kept as pets in Central and South America, and in Peru they are known as "lirón," an animal that is regarded as a hybrid of a monkey and a bear which is another fanciful belief not based on reality. In El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, which are also in the range where chupacabras are said to live, the kinkajou is often kept as pets and are commonly called micoleón, meaning "lion monkey." This idea that it is a hybrid has fed into the stories of the chupacabra being a hybrid created by genetic engineering. 

Yawning Kinkajou (Photo: Robrrb)

There is currently a video being circulated by La Extra Bandera newspaper doing the rounds on Facebook social networking site showing what is said to be a chupacabra. The poor animal, whatever it is, is desperately trying to bite its way out of the metal cage it is in. It appears to be a kinkajou just like the one in the photo above that is showing its claws and teeth, or maybe the animal in the La Extra Bandera video is some type of small bear that has lost its fur due to disease. I think you will agree that there are far too many coincidences for the true identity of the chupacabra not to be a kinkajou. Mystery solved: the chupacabra is nothing more than a kinkajou! 

The Ladder Snake is aptly named because of the ladder markings on its back

Ladder snake (Elaphe scalaris) Photo by Pascal Dubois

The ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris) is an attractive harmless snake found in Portugal, Spain, southern France and some parts of Italy. It is also found on Menorca but is thought to have been introduced there. 

The ladder snake is in a group of snakes known as “rat snakes” because they have a tendency to feed on rodents. It is also known as Elaphe scalaris, which is the genus the other rat snakes are in.

The ladder snake takes its name from the dark markings between two blackish parallel lines down its spine that look like the rungs of a ladder. 

The ladder snake is more highly coloured when young when this patterning really stands out.  These juvenile snakes are a yellowish or pale brown in colour with the ladder marking in a contrasting black. There are dark markings on the sides and belly of these snakes too but the colours fade as they grow older.

Young Ladder Snake Photo by Steve Andrews

Adult ladder snakes reach around 160 cm and are mainly a dark brown or greyish for their main colouration.

Ladder snakes can be found in a variety of habitats, including scrub-land, clearings in forests, orchards and vineyards. These reptiles also have a liking for stone walls in which they can hide and hunt their prey. They also frequent rocky ground where there are plenty of boulders.

Ladder snakes feed on mice, shrews, small rats, birds, lizards, spiders and some other insects. Young snakes take small lizards and baby rodents, and also have a liking for spiders and grasshoppers. Adult ladder snakes will hunt birds in their nests by climbing into bushes and trees. Ladder snakes are active by day and night. 

Female ladder snakes lay between four and 24 eggs. The mother snakes will remain with the baby ladder snakes for a few days.

The ladder snake is in the Colubridae family of snakes, many of which are also non-venomous. The ladder snake will bite in defence, however, and will hiss if captured.

Because the ladder snake has a very wide distribution and lives in many habitats it is not regarded as in any current danger. Its conservation status is of Least Concern. Some ladder snakes become road casualties though, and the danger of getting run over by traffic is serious threat to many other types of reptile and amphibian.

The Iberian Water Frog or Perez’s Frog is not the Iberian frog

Pelophylax perezi. Photo by David Perez

The Iberian water frog lives in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) as its name suggests but it is also known as Perez’s frog (Pelophylax perezi) and the Iberian green frog. Its scientific name used to be Rana perezi, and this is still used by many zoologists and naturalists. 

 It needs to be distinguished from the Iberian frog (Rana iberica), which also lives in Spain and Portugal but unlike the Iberian water frog which is very common and widely distributed, the Iberian frog is now very rare and limited by the number of locations it still survives in. 

The Iberian water frog’s key to success is that it isn’t fussy about its habitat and is found in ponds, lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and just about anywhere there is freshwater. It is often found breeding in garden ponds and also in the large water tank reservoirs made for farm irrigation.

It also lives in southern France and has been successfully introduced into Tenerife and the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira, as well as the Balearic Islands. It is also reported from a couple of sites in the UK where it is surviving.

The Iberian waterfrog is usually some shade of green as an overall colour but sometimes blueish specimens are found. These frogs often have a yellowish line down their backs.

Juvenile Iberian water frog. Photo by Steve Andrews

The Iberian water frog is a large species with females being bigger than the males.  The males croak loudly and congregate in large numbers in the breeding season. They can be territorial and will fight. 

The Iberian water frog is also known to resort to cannibalism at times and will eat its own tadpoles and smaller frogs.

The Iberian waterfrog, as its name suggests, spends most of its time in the water or very near it. It likes to bask in the sun at the edges of ponds or on lily-pads or anything else it can haul its body out onto.

 

Iberian Water Frogs. Quinta do Lago, Algarve, Portugal. 07/05/2102

  The Iberian Frog 

Rana iberica. Photo by Luis Fernández García

The Iberian frog favours mountainous regions and needs rivers, streams, ponds and lakes in these areas. It is also found in some lowland parts but is seriously declining in numbers.

  It looks similar to the Common frog (R.temporaria) and shares its habitat with this species in some places. It can grow to about 7 cm (2.8 in) in length but a more usual size is 5 cm (2.0 in).

The Iberian frog is having problems mainly due to habitat loss caused by deforestation and land development and is also threatened by introduced and naturalised predatory species including the American mink (Neovison vison). Climate Change is also said to be taking its toll on this species of frog and its official Conservation Status is “Near Threatened.”

SAVE THE FROGS 

Sadly it's not just the Iberian frog that is declining in numbers and in danger, because worldwide many species of frog, toad, salamander and newt are in serious trouble too. Water pollution, pesticides, herbicides, habitat destruction, the danger from traffic on roads, competition with other species, disease and Climate Change are all contributing to this, and many types are actually endangered to the point of facing extinction.

Dr Kerry Kriger has set up the first ever charity devoted to saving frogs and amphibians. Find out what you can do to help Save The Frogs here!