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MWF is renowned for its bird conservation work. However, it is now gaining acknowledgement as an organisation at the forefront of re-wilding or tax on substitution (the replacement of extinct animals with extant substitutes). In June 2006, a small population of A1dabran Giant Tortoises (A dabrachelys gigantean) and Madagascan Radiated Tortoises Castrochelys radiate) were translocated to Round Island. Further information can be found in the scientific journal of Restoration Ecology*, justifying why these non-native herbivores and seed dispersers could replace the ecological functions of the extinct Mauritian tortoises, (Cylindraspis species), and aid in the restoration of plant communities. This work conducted jointly by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, the National Parks and Conservation Service and the universities of Bristol and Zurich, and supported by La Vanille Reserve des Mascareignes, will be the first tax on substitutions study to produce quantitative data. This is imperative to improve our understanding of whether taxon
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