Mohotani (sometimes spelt Moho Tani; also called Molopu or Motane) is an uninhabited island southeast of Hiva Oa and east of Tahuata in the southern Marquesas Islands. It has an area of 15 km2. Much of the island's sparse vegetation has been destroyed by feral goats and sheep, to the extent that following its rare rains, the sea around it is stained red from runoff. Early reports describes the island as fertile, with forest and fields. When Thor Heyerdahl visited the island in 1938, there were only a few goats and remains of deserted huts and villages.
Mohotani is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Hiva-Oa, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands.
It is reported that at one time the island was inhabited by a clan called the "Moi a Tiu", but that population has long since been wiped out by disease and war, the few survivors having departed for Hiva ʻOa. In pre-European times, the island was considered part of the territory of the province of Pepane.
In 1992, the island and its surrounding smaller islands (including Terihi) were officially protected by the declaration of the Motane Nature Reserve.
Mohotani (sometimes spelt Moho Tani; also called Molopu or Motane) is an uninhabited island southeast of Hiva Oa and east of Tahuata in the southern Marquesas...
island in the Marquesas Islands, less than 300 m (0.19 mi) southeast from Mohotani. It has an area of 0.15 square kilometres (0.06 square miles) and a coastline...
Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, Tahuata, and Mohotani but is now restricted to Mohotani. An ornithological study on Mohotani in 2000 estimated that there are approximately...
by Thor Heyerdahl in his book Green Was the Earth on the Seventh Day. "Mohotani Reserve Integrale, French Polynesia". SPREP. Retrieved 3 January 2023....
1974). The story of his time on Fatu Hiva and his side trip to Hivaoa and Mohotani is also related in Green Was the Earth on the Seventh Day (Random House...
found in small subpopulations on the islands of Eiao, Hatutaa, Hiva Oa, Mohotani and Nuku Hiva. Populations on Eiao and Hatutaa are in a critically endangered...
and pigs. Further specimens were later found on the nearby island of Mohotani, uninhabited by humans, but similarly deforested by sheep, who seem to...
million birds. A three-week expedition in November, to the remote island of Mohotani, one of the Marquesas Islands was undertaken to assess the seabird population...
Passing just west of Mohotani island, French Polynesia (at 9°58′S 138°51′W / 9.967°S 138.850°W / -9.967; -138.850 (Mohotani)) Passing just west of...
islands of Fatu Hiva, Ua Pou, Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Tahuata, Ua Huka, and Mohotani. In 2001, it was believed to be relatively common on the island of Ua Pou...
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