The Territory of Wallis and Futuna Islands lies in South Pacific. Though it is a Polynesian French island territory it is technically not part of, or contiguous, with French Polynesia. It sits to the far western end of Polynesia. And though it shares the mild, tropical temperatures of the area moderated by the ocean breezes, it doesn't seem to be a favorite place to call home for animals. There are only four freshwater fish species and two marine fish species endemic to these islands. There are Blainville's Beaked Whales, Ginkgo-toothed Beaked Whales and the Feresa
Pygmy Killer Whales common to these waters as well as a host of dolphins including the Stenella
Spinner Dolphin and Lagenodelphis Fraser's Dolphin.
The only land animals on the islands were populated by the local administration. You will find cattle, sheep and goats on the islands and an occasional dog, cat or horse, according the February 2010 report issued by J. Theuerkauf's group of researchers, but the animals native to Wallis and Futuna are lizards, snakes, snails and believe it or not, pigeons. This last group really gets around. Now the non-native or invasive species that have been recorded on the islands include two bird species on Wallis: the Common Myna and the Chestnut-breasted Munia, and one on Futuna: the
Jungle Myna. They all live in modified habitats such as the gardens or grassland areas and some were found along the roadside in the grassy areas. Also recorded were Black Rats which demonstrated the lack of control over the invasive species of the islands.
The tropical moist forests of the Wallis and Futuna Islands contain an rich diversity of flowering plants, unique palm species and Futuna supports 3 endemic plant species of its own. Archeological discoveries prove that even more species were present prehistorically. So far the remains of a giant pigeon, two species of megapode, a giant land iquana, a 3 m land crocodile, a
giant frog, a large horned tortoise have been uncovered. Most of these are believed to have gone extinct shortly after the arrival of the first humans on the island.