Thomas Peschak's Image

In the heat of the day these giant millipedes burrow into the island’s deep leaf litter to escape the sun’s burning rays. After a day of rest, the myriapods come alive, covering the forest floor in a dense, living carpet of legs. Cleaners-in-chief, the finger-thick, 15 centimetre long millipedes then consume the forest’s decaying leaf litter.

These giant millipedes are only found on 14 small islands in the Seychelles. They became endangered when rats were introduced to the island resort of Frégate in the 1990s. Since their decline, an international response has restored the island to a rodent-free sanctuary and established a back-up millipede population in captivity.