British naturalist who saved Seychelles warbler dies at 73

Ian Bullock, the British naturalist who became the first professional warden of remote Aride Island in the Seychelles in 1987, has died from melanoma at the age of 73, The Guardian reported in his obituary. His work helped make possible the 1988 transfer of 29 endangered Seychelles warblers to the island, creating a second population and saving the species from extinction.

Before the transfer, the entire global population of the Seychelles warbler lived on just one island, Cousin Island, and had once fallen to only 26 birds. Bullock's baseline surveys and habitat management on Aride, which had been cleared of introduced predators, provided the stable conditions needed for the risky translocation. The project, recorded by Cambridge University Press in Bird Conservation International and BirdLife International, succeeded: the warbler population has since grown to more than 3,000 birds across several island sanctuaries and been moved out of the highest threat categories.

Bullock spent 25 years with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), managing nature reserves across the UK and co-writing and illustrating Birds of the Seychelles. His approach to island conservation has been widely replicated. He died in March 2025.