Barren islands, unique life.
Cape Verde formed volcanically in the middle of the Atlantic and never had a land bridge to the African mainland - ideal conditions for endemic species, but also for extreme vulnerability. For decades the Raso Lark was known only from the 7 km² uninhabited islet of Ilhéu Raso, but thanks to a successful translocation a second, self-sustaining population now lives on the neighboring island of Santa Luzia too. Boa Vista is home to the world's third-largest loggerhead turtle population, and the archipelago's waters are the only known breeding and calving ground for humpback whales in the Northeast Atlantic.
Fauna & flora at a glance.
- Endemic plants
- over 80 species, around 78% of them classified as threatened
- Endemic trees
- only 3 tree taxa across the entire archipelago, including the Cape Verde dragon tree
- Rarest bird
- Raso Lark (Alauda razae), Critically Endangered - originally found only on Ilhéu Raso, also on Santa Luzia since the 2018/19 translocation (approx. 850-1,000 birds, as of Nov. 2025)
- Largest gecko
- Cape Verde giant gecko (Tarentola gigas), up to 15.5 cm, found only on Ilhéu Raso & Branco
- Sea turtles
- ✓ Verified
Loggerhead turtle, main nesting area Boa Vista - Humpback whales
- ✓ Verified
Season December-May, only known breeding ground in the NE Atlantic - Dangerous land animals
- no snakes, no lethally venomous species native
- Strictly protected
- Raso & Branco integral nature reserves, uninhabited, access heavily restricted
Three birds found nowhere else.
Cape Verde's geographic isolation has produced a small but highly specialized - and correspondingly vulnerable - birdlife.
Raso Lark (Alauda razae)
✓ VerifiedOriginally found worldwide only on the 7 km² uninhabited islet of Ilhéu Raso. Its population there fluctuates extremely with rainfall - from around 57 birds in the 2004 drought year to over 1,500 in good years. In 2018/2019, around 70 birds were experimentally translocated to the neighboring island of Santa Luzia to establish a second, independent population - successfully: a count in November 2025 already found 850 to 1,000 birds there with active nests and fledged young, meaning the species is no longer confined to a single island.
Cape Verde Warbler "Chuchurirú"
Called tchota-de-cana in Kriolu, it now breeds only on Santiago and Fogo - it was formerly also found on São Nicolau and Brava, where it has since disappeared. It lives in irrigated valleys and builds hanging nests in reeds, avoiding dry areas.
Cape Verde Shearwater "Cagarra"
An endemic seabird with an estimated 20,000 adult birds - more than half of the world population breeds on Ilhéu Raso (approx. 6,500 pairs), with most of the rest on Branco (approx. 3,500 pairs). For decades chicks were taken from nests for food; in recent years no killings have been documented on Raso, Branco, or the Rombos Islands.
Turtles & whales - world-class on your doorstep.
Boa Vista is home to the world's third-largest loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting population - after Oman and southeast Florida, and the largest in the entire eastern Atlantic. Around two-thirds of all Cape Verdean nesting activity is concentrated on this one island. Between 1998 and 2024, three of its key nesting beaches recorded an 80-fold increase in nesting females - one of the most remarkable marine conservation success stories worldwide, achieved through decades of beach patrols, anti-poaching work, and outreach in coastal villages. In 2021, up to 22,000 nests per kilometer were counted on the densest nesting beaches - by comparison, the otherwise world-leading sites in Florida and Oman reach up to 600 nests per kilometer.
From December to May, humpback whales also pass through the archipelago's waters - Cape Verde is the only known breeding and calving ground for this species in the entire Northeast Atlantic. The season peaks between February/March and May, when courting males and females with calves are most commonly observed. After the mating season, the animals move on to their feeding grounds off Iceland, Norway, or Greenland, before returning roughly a year later to calve.
Conservation projects, not solo excursions
Organizations like BIOS.CV and the Turtle Foundation on Boa Vista, Projecto Vitó for the Rombos Islands and Fogo, and the Fundação Maio Biodiversidade on Maio coordinate monitoring and protection programs and in some cases offer approved, guided observation tours. Entering turtle nesting sites on your own or photographing them with flash disturbs the animals significantly and can incur fines in protected areas.
Giant gecko & skinks - their own genus.
All of Cape Verde's skinks belong to the genus Chioninia, which occurs exclusively in the archipelago and nowhere else in the world. Distinct species have evolved depending on the island: Chioninia delalandii and Chioninia spinalis are widespread across several islands, Chioninia nicolauensis occurs only on São Nicolau, and Chioninia fogoensis - despite its name - is endemic to Santo Antão. The once-largest member, the Cape Verde giant skink (Chioninia coctei), is already extinct.
The Cape Verde giant gecko (Tarentola gigas), at up to 15.5 cm head-to-body length, is the archipelago's largest gecko and one of the largest in the world - classified as threatened and confined to the uninhabited integral nature reserves of Ilhéu Raso and Ilhéu Branco. The somewhat larger subspecies Tarentola gigas gigas lives on Raso, while the smaller T. g. brancoensis lives on Branco. Because there are hardly any insects on these barren islets, the geckos partly feed on food that seabirds regurgitate for their chicks - a close ecological link between reptile and seabird colony.
The Cape Verde dragon tree.
⚠ Subject to changeCape Verde's dry, wind-exposed climate allows for almost no dense vegetation - lusher plant communities are found only in a few higher-lying, more humid zones on Santo Antão, Fogo, Santiago, and São Nicolau. Of the roughly 740-755 documented plant species in the archipelago, more than 80 are considered endemic, and an estimated 78% of these endemic species are classified as threatened under IUCN criteria - nearly 30% of them even critically endangered.
Its best-known representative is the Cape Verde dragon tree (Dracaena draco subsp. caboverdeana), scientifically described as its own subspecies of the Canarian dragon tree only in 2012. It grows more compact and bluer than its Canarian counterpart, usually reaching 4 to 6 (rarely up to 8) meters in height, and occurs naturally on only three islands of the archipelago, on steep cliffs and in mountain regions. It's one of only three tree taxa that are endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago at all - and, like almost all of the islands' endemic plants, classified as threatened.
Why there are no snakes
Cape Verde formed volcanically in the middle of the Atlantic and never had a land bridge to the African mainland. Species had to cross the open ocean or fly to reach the islands at all - which explains both the unusually high proportion of endemics and the complete absence of snakes and lethally venomous animals. Occasionally sighted scorpions, for instance near Tarrafal on Santiago, are shy and harmless to humans; the biggest practical risk for swimmers is sea urchins in shallow, rocky water.
Sources & status of this page
- Raso Lark (population 57 birds in 2004, up to 1,500+ in good years; translocation 2018/2019): consistent with peer-reviewed literature (incl. Royal Society Publishing, Nature Scientific Reports) - the 37 and 33 birds (around 70 total) translocated to Santa Luzia in 2018/2019 have since grown to 850-1,000 birds there (Biosfera Cabo Verde count, November 2025, with confirmed breeding). Correction 10/17/2026: the hero text, fact grid, and POI card had until then incorrectly described the species as occurring exclusively on Ilhéu Raso, even though this source-box entry had long correctly documented the Santa Luzia population - now aligned across the visible page sections.
- Loggerhead turtles (Cape Verde overall the third-largest nesting aggregation worldwide, of which around two-thirds of Cape Verdean nesting activity is on Boa Vista, 80-fold increase 1998-2024, up to 22,000 nests/km in 2021 on the densest Boa Vista beaches): confirmed by the Turtle Foundation and a study published in 2026, summarized by Mongabay - directly cross-checked via WebFetch. Refined 10/17/2026: the study establishes the ranking for Cape Verde as a country/nesting aggregation, not explicitly for Boa Vista as an isolated single-island population - the page previously attributed the ranking directly to Boa Vista in several places. Correction 10/25/2026, revised 10/27/2026: on 10/25/2026 "two-thirds" was changed sitewide to ~90%, based on an older (~2007-2009) ULPGC study. A renewed, more targeted check on 10/27/2026 found the Turtle Foundation's current live website consistently states "around two-thirds" as its own current figure - the 90% figure traces to an outdated academic source. Reverted to "two-thirds" per the organization's current statement (also affected boa-vista.html and touren-aktivitaeten.html).
- Humpback whales (only known breeding/calving ground in the Northeast Atlantic, season December-May): consistent with multiple scientific publications on the migration patterns of Cape Verdean humpback whales.
- No native snake species (added 10/17/2026): confirmed by a peer-reviewed review study in Oryx (Cambridge University Press) on the distribution and conservation status of Cape Verde's terrestrial reptiles - all native reptiles are geckos and skinks (genera Hemidactylus, Tarentola, Chioninia), no snakes.
- Cape Verde dragon tree (Dracaena draco subsp. caboverdeana, described 2012): original description by Marrero Rodríguez & R.S. Almeida 2012 confirmed. Note for context: a later taxonomic paper (Rivas-Martínez et al. 2017) classifies the Cape Verdean population as its own species (Dracaena caboverdeana) rather than a subspecies - so the taxonomy isn't unified; this page follows the original, still commonly used subspecies name.
- Endemic plant figures (740-755 species, over 80 endemic, ~78% threatened, ~30% critically endangered): drawn from botanical literature on Cape Verdean flora; exact species counts vary slightly by source, which is why a range rather than a single figure is deliberately cited here.
- Absence of snakes/venomous animals: a generally accepted biogeographic fact (isolated volcanic archipelago with no land bridge), no single source needed.
Questions about fauna & flora.
Are there dangerous animals in Cape Verde?
Practically none. There are no native snake species and no lethally venomous animals - a consequence of the islands never having had a land bridge to the mainland. Occasionally shy scorpions are spotted (incl. near Tarrafal on Santiago); for swimmers, sea urchins in shallow water are practically the biggest risk.
When can you see humpback whales in Cape Verde?
The season runs from December to May, peaking between February/March and May - that's also when females with calves are most commonly observed. Cape Verde is considered the only known breeding and calving ground for humpback whales in the Northeast Atlantic.
Where's the best place to see sea turtles?
Boa Vista, where around two-thirds of all Cape Verdean loggerhead turtle nesting activity takes place - Cape Verde overall is home to the third-largest nesting aggregation worldwide. Observations should only be done through licensed guides or approved tours, so as not to disturb the nesting sites.
Is the Cape Verde dragon tree the same as the one on the Canary Islands?
Closely related, but not identical: the Cape Verde dragon tree is its own subspecies (Dracaena draco subsp. caboverdeana), scientifically described only in 2012 - more compact and bluer than its Canarian counterpart and native to only three islands of the archipelago.
Why are so many of Cape Verde's endemic species endangered?
Many species have extremely small, isolated populations - some occur on only a single, often uninhabited island. Introduced predators such as rats and feral cats, goats as vegetation grazers, habitat loss, and historical hunting (such as of shearwater chicks) have further weakened many populations.
Can you visit the bird islands of Raso and Branco?
Both are uninhabited integral nature reserves with heavily restricted access, reserved primarily for research and conservation projects - practically inaccessible to regular visitors.
More about Culture & People.
Want to learn more about Cape Verde?
Discover the history, culture, and daily life of the archipelago - or plan your trip directly with our 360° Check.