FADING queen
Echoing across a valley on the island of Fatu Hiva in the South Pacific Ocean is a sound heard nowhere else on Earth. Few have ventured into this narrow gorge of yellow blooming hibiscus and razor-leaved pandanus, for the only pathways are those forged by wild pigs. Anyone foolhardy enough to follow these trails must come armed with a machete and a willingness to scramble over sharp, slippery boulders.
Scientist Caroline Blanvillain describes the unusual cry heard here as “So powerful you believe the dinosaurs are coming”. Others liken this peculiar noise to the squeals of a dying cat. It emanates not from some mythical creature but from an insectivorous songbird called the Fatu Hiva monarch. At the time of writing, there are precisely 17 individuals left, making this little bird one of the most endangered animals in the world.
Fatu Hiva is the most southerly of the Marquesas Islands, an archipelago in north-eastern French Polynesia. There is no airstrip on Fatu Hiva and it can only be reached by boat. When drawn on a map, it is often depicted as a mere dot, and at only 15km long, it is indeed
