Grenada Dove

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Grenada Dove

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Leptotila
Species:	L. wellsi

Binomial name

Leptotila wellsi
(Lawrence, 1884)

The Grenada Dove (Leptotila wellsi) is a medium-sized New World tropical dove. It is endemic to the island of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It is the National Bird of Grenada.

This dove is classified as critically endangered by BirdLife International. The current population is estimated at less than 200 individuals, and possibly less than 100. The Grenada Government - in cooperation with the World Bank - set up two reserve zones in 1996 to preserve the dove; the Perseverance and adjacent Woodford Estates in the west of the island and the 480 acre Mount Hartman Estate in the south. The latter holds approximately 50% of the population of the the dove, with ca. 22% within the section now considered a National Park. Any future development of the Mount Hartman Estate has to respect the restricted zones therein which count for about 25 percent of the entire estate.

In late 2006 the rumour spread that the entire Mount Hartman Estate was to be sold to the Four Seasons Hotel chain for developement of a new high-end tourist resort. The Grenada Government has issued statements stating categorically that any new project within the Mount Hartman Estate will have to respect the dove sanctuaries and that any project will have to meet the criteria of providing a "win-win" situation. The Four Seasons Hotels have issued a statement that they are not the developer of the project but only the possible operator, if the project should be developed. So far the Government of Grenada has not made any decision about the development.

BirdLife International and other organisations have questioned whether a "win-win" situation can be achieved. Therefore BirdLife International, together with other organizations (among them the American Bird Conservancy) and private individuals (among them authors Graeme Gibson and Margaret Atwood), have started a campaign against the plans. They argue that, being restricted to dry, coastal scrub-woodland and seasonal forest, habitat loss remains the most significant thread to survival of the Grenada Dove. Other threats are hurricanes and predation of nestlings and eggs by the introduced mongooses, cats and rats.