What animals are on Easter Island?

Answer 1

Horses--many in secure pastures, some roaming but branded, and others just roaming. None seem very "wild." Many are thin--perhaps due to the poor vegetation in November (driest month), or perhaps due to intestinal parasites.

Cows--not as numerous as the horses, but pleny in pastures. Some were very thin.

Dogs--many but almost all in the village of Rapa Nui. A few were in yard of specific houses, but many "patrolled' the streets looking for handouts from tourists. None seemed human-aggressive, but several asserted their alpha status of specific packs.

Cats--the few we saw were in specific houses or businesses.

Birds--small birds and several types of sea birds. A small hawk (kestrel?) was rather plentiful in rural areas.

Rats--in rural areas, but the Birds of Prey and/or dogs probably control the numbers.

Goats and Sheep--didn't see any, although the island used to be (decades ago) dominated by sheep (British ranch).

Snakes--understand there are none, but I can't vouch for that.

Answer 2

Easter Island is very isolated, and it has been exposed to some extreme natural and madmade conditions. Due to this, there is not a wide variety of plant of animal life.

Animals that currently live on or around the island:

• Maori rats
• Gekkonidae
• Moko uri uri
• horses
• frigatebirds
• Red-tailed Tropicbird
• seagulls
• chimango caracaras
• Chilean Tinamou
• green sea turtle
• lobsters
• sharks
• tuna
• mahi mahi