Madeira Petrel Visitor Centre

The Madeira Petrel , or Freira , was considered extinct for a long time .

Small numbers were then discovered nesting in burrows high on the central mountains of Madeira . Much conservation work has been carried out to protect the birds . A Visitor Centre at the top of Pico Abreiro , over 1800 metres high , tells their remarkable story .

Very interesting. Something I had not heard of before.

How are the Madeira petrels doing now?

This information si from the leaflet - in Portuguese and English - from the Visitor Centre . When rediscovered in 1969 there were 7 known breeding pairs . This had risen to between 30 and 40 pairs by 2001 , and now between 70 and 85 pairs . A real success story .

I find it amazing that a small seabird will fly to such high altitudes to breed .

Madeira also has a small population of the endangered Mediterranean monk seal - estimated at between 30 and 35 animals . The pretty fishing village Camara de Lobos is named after them , as they were so common there at one time .