Wildlife of Socotra

Dragon's blood tree

Dracaena cinnabari

• Its umbrella-shaped crown catches mist and fog, which runs down to the roots.
• Firmihin holds more than 40% of all dragon's blood trees, on about 2% of the land where they could grow.
• Adult trees rarely die. Young ones are eaten by goats long before they grow out of reach.

Frankincense trees

Boswellia, 11 endemic species

• 11 of the world's 24 frankincense species grow only on the Socotra archipelago.
• At Homhil, one species fell from 1,187 trees in 1956 to 264 in 2017.
• Socotra's trees are not the main source of the frankincense sold today.

Bottle tree

Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum

• Named for its swollen trunk, which stores water.
• It flowers best in February and March.
• At Homhil it grows alongside frankincense and dragon's blood trees.

Cucumber tree

Dendrosicyos socotranus

• The only member of the cucumber family that grows into a tree.
• A survey found 163 trees at 24 sites and estimated that more than 6,400 grow on the island.
• It grows mostly in shrubland with succulents and in wadis.

Socotra pomegranate

Punica protopunica

• One of only two species in its genus. The other is the pomegranate grown for its fruit.
• It grows in the island's dry woodland.

Socotra begonia

Begonia socotrana

• In the wild it grows only in the north-central part of the island.
• Breeders began crossing it with tuberous begonias in 1881. It is a parent of the winter-flowering Hiemalis and Elatior begonias.

Socotrine aloe

Aloe perryi

Photographed in cultivation at Auckland Botanic Gardens

• Its bitter dried sap was sold for centuries as "Socotrine aloes", a purgative in Arabic and European medicine.
• The medieval pharmacologist Ibn al-Baitar rated aloes from Socotra above those from Yemen.
• By 1833 the island exported only two tons, and the trade later stopped.

Socotra starling

Onychognathus frater

• Nests in hollow branches of dragon's blood trees.
• Eats the trees' berries and helps to spread their seeds.

Socotra sunbird

Chalcomitra balfouri

• Lives in shrubland, from the lowlands up into the mountains.

Socotra golden-winged grosbeak

Rhynchostruthus socotranus

• Males have bright yellow patches on the wings and tail, and white cheeks.
• It was once treated as one species with the grosbeaks of Arabia and Somalia, which are now separate species.

Socotra sparrow

Passer insularis

• Found on Socotra and on the smaller islands of Samhah and Darsah.

Socotra buzzard

Buteo socotraensis

• Known for more than a century, but only described as a separate species in 2010.
• There are 250 to 500 mature birds, and the number is falling.

Socotra scops owl

Otus socotranus

• Split from the African scops owl because its plumage and calls are different.
• It hunts at night, and has been seen catching moths at dusk.

Socotra cisticola

Cisticola haesitatus

• More than a quarter of the world population lives on the north coast plain between the airport and Di Selmeho.

Socotra warbler

Incana incana

• The only species in its genus. It was once placed with the cisticolas.
• Lives in dry shrubland, including in the mountains.

Socotra white-eye

Zosterops socotranus

• Treated as a race of the Abyssinian white-eye until a 2014 genetic study showed that the two are not closely related.

Socotra bunting

Emberiza socotrana

Plate, 1903

• There are about 2,500 mature birds, and the number is stable.

Abd al-Kuri sparrow

Passer hemileucus

• Its entire world range is about 244 km² on a single island.
• There are 250 to 999 mature birds, and the number is falling.

Egyptian vulture

Neophron percnopterus

• Abundant on Socotra. Roosts of more than 350 birds gather on the north slopes of the Haghier.
• Recorded at 12 of the archipelago's 21 Important Bird Areas.

Socotra grey shrike

Lanius excubitor uncinatus

• Whether it is a separate species was still under review in September 2026. If it is accepted, it will be the 12th endemic.

Socotra cormorant

Phalacrocorax nigrogularis

Plate, 1903

• Despite the name, it is not endemic. It breeds on islands in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea.
• Around 2,500 pairs breed at Kal Farun, more than 2% of the world population.
• It also nests at Detwah Lagoon.

Socotra chameleon

Chamaeleo monachus

• Lives in dense shrubland, along wadis and sometimes in palm groves.
• Overgrazing of that shrubland is a threat to it.

Socotra skink

Trachylepis socotrana

• Catching skinks to show tourists for tips is prohibited, but it still happens. Don't pay for it.

Haemodracon geckos

Haemodracon riebeckii and H. trachyrhinus

Plate, 1903

• A genus of two rare geckos found only on the Socotra archipelago.
• The name means "blood dragon", after the dragon's blood tree.
• Some of the island's endemic geckos live in an area of 10 km² or less.

Socotra blue baboon spider

Monocentropus balfouri

• A tarantula found only on Socotra. The adults are bright blue.
• It lives in burrows, and females guard their young.
• It is smuggled off the island for the pet trade.

Land snails

96 species

Buliminus tigris, plate, 1903

• The highest share of endemic species of any group of animals or plants on the island.
• Two more endemic species were described in 2020.

Reefs, turtles and dolphins

• A natural-history tour in February 2025 recorded more than 119 fish species while snorkelling at Dihamri and Shuab.
• Four sea turtles have been recorded: green, loggerhead, olive ridley and hawksbill.
• Spinner and bottlenose dolphins are the ones visitors usually see, from the boat between Qalansiyah and Shuab.

Detwah Lagoon

• A Ramsar-listed wetland where about 32 waterbird species have been recorded.
• Its seagrass is a nursery for rays found nowhere else around the island.