The wildlife of Mauritius consists of its flora and fauna. Mauritius is located in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar. Due to its isolation, it has a relatively low diversity of wildlife; however, a high proportion of these are endemic species occurring nowhere else in the world. Many of these are now threatened with extinction because of human activities including habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native species. Some have already become extinct, most famously the dodo which disappeared in the 17th century. Fauna Mammals Due to its isolated geographic location, remote from large land masses, Mauritius originally had no terrestrial mammals. The only mammals that made their way to the island are bats and marine mammals. Of the two fruit bats, only one remains – the Mauritian flying fox. Two insectivorous microbats also remain. A number of mammals have been introduced either accidentally or intentionally, including rats, mice, tenrecs, mongooses, rusa deer and crab-eating macaques as well as livestock such as domestic ruminants and pigs. These introduced mammals have had a varied impact on the island's pristine fauna. Given that they were free from natural predators, they rapidly grew to large numbers and were soon preying on and competing with the local fauna. Bats The government introduced a law that authorised the shooting 18,000 Mauritian fruit bats (Mauritian flying fox) on 7 November 2015, despite protests and even though the species is protected and listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the IUCN, the high level of damage to commercial fruit that it is widely claimed to be caused by the fruit bats is not supported by the results of the research. By July 2018 the IUCN again listed the fruit bat as endangered following the previous years' culls by the government. Despite this status, October 2018, saw the authorisation of the cull of 20% of the fruit bat population, amounting to 13,000 of the estimated 65,000 fruit bats remaining. Birds Over 100 bird species have been recorded in Mauritius. There are seven or eight surviving endemic species on the main island depending on taxonomy. The Mauritius grey white-eye is the most common of these, being widespread across the island including in man-made habitats. The others are less common and are mainly restricted to the Black River Gorges National Park in the south-west of the island. The Mauritius kestrel, Mauritius