Some of you might be interested to read about this rat eradication project in the UK, described as “the largest community-based island restoration project attempted in the world to date”. I imagine with residents on the islands, and therefore regular boat visits, that preventing reintroduction will be as difficult as the initial eradication. Peter Shute —–Original Message—– From: aliens-l-request@list.auckland.ac.nz [mailto:aliens-l-request@list.auckland.ac.nz] On Behalf Of Shyama Pagad Sent: Tuesday, 12 November 2013 6:06 AM To: aliens-l@list.auckland.ac.nz Subject: [Aliens-L] Re Isles of Scilly rat eradication to ‘save seabirds’ begins Isles of Scilly rat eradication to ‘save seabirds’ begins By Chris Ellis BBC News Online A project aimed at protecting internationally important seabird populations on two of the Isles of Scilly by killing more than 3,000 brown rats, is under way. The islands, which are located off Cornwall, are home to breeding populations of 14 seabird species and approximately 20,000 birds. Eradication experts from New Zealand and the UK have been contracted to carry out the work. “Among many challenges our seabirds face, the greatest threat on land is predation of eggs and chicks by brown rats,” said Jaclyn Pearson from the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project. “The brown rats were accidently introduced to islands from shipwrecks in the 18th Century,” she added. ‘Intensive baiting’ The project is part of a 25-year programme to protect “internationally important” seabird numbers, including those of Manx shearwaters and storm petrels, and is costing more than £755,000. The rodents will be poisoned on St Agnes and Gugh by Wildlife Management International Limited (WMIL). The company has helped eradicate rats from Ramsey Island off Wales, Lundy Island off Devon and the Isle of Canna in the Scottish Hebrides. Elizabeth Bell, from WMIL said: “A period of intensive baiting will start from the 8 November and most of the rats will be dead by the end of November. We’ll then target the surviving rats.” A long-term monitoring programme will start at the beginning of 2014 to check the rodents have been eradicated from the islands. Ms Bell said all the bait stations were enclosed, tied down and were designed not to kill any other species, such as rabbits. Ms Pearson said: “The project is 25 years in length, although the project team will disband after five years, for the remaining 20 years the community will continue to protect their seabird heritage, by keeping the islands ‘rat-free’. “This includes correct waste management, ensuring bio-security on boats and freight to the islands, and of course, educating all visitors to the islands to be vigilant and ‘rat on a rat'”. “This is the largest community-based island restoration project attempted in the world to date, with 85 residents living here year round.” She added that similar populated islands around the world hoped to learn from the project and carry out similar work to “safeguard their seabirds”. A feasibility study estimated the population of brown rats on the Isles of Scilly was about 34,500, with 3,100 occurring on St Agnes and Gugh. Johnny Birks, chair of the Mammal Society, said: “Brown rats are not native to Britain… it’s our own fault they are so widespread and that makes it right for us to repair the damage we’ve caused.”….. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-24583514 ———————————————————————————— Shyama Pagad Program Manager Invasive Species Information Management University of Auckland Program Officer IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group Tel +64 9 3737599 (X88624) DDI +64 9 9238624 Fax +64 9 3737042 email: s.pagad@auckland.ac.nz skype: shyama.pagad www.issg.org/ ———————————————————————————— The IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of the impacts of invasive species; and of ways to prevent their spread and, control or eradicate them. ———————————————————————————— =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
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