Rats, rats and more rats. How does an island in paradise get rid of a non-native rodent problem? Back in 1918 a boat unloaded rats on Lord Howe Island, 800 miles off of the coast of Australia. The island is considered to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. 
The rodent problem has been credited with killing off five different species of birds on the island, and is considered to be the greatest threat to native wildlife. The islanders are taking extreme measures to rid themselves of their rat problem. In August 2012 forty-two tons of rat poison will be dropped from the air onto the island. Helicopters will spend several days blanketing the island with rat poison. A similar technique to killing rats on a large scale has been tried before, but never in such a populated region. Helicopters will drop the poison over unpopulated areas, while in developed regions; it will be dispersed by hand. To avoid the poison being ingested by wildlife the measure is ultimately aiming to protect, native birds will be captured and caged–along with dogs, cats, cows, and chickens–and transported off the island for a period of 100 days. Children, during the poisoning, will have to be closely monitored by their parents, officials say. This is quite an audacious plan in eliminating a non-native species. Such an operation of removing native species prior to poisoning of the rats has never been attempted before. Obviously the size of the land mass does lend itself to making an attempt at relocating the native species possible. The concern we see in this attempt is the introduction of poison into the ground and water on the island. Exposing people to the poison is not prudent. The islanders would be wise to relocate as well.
Photo: Lord Howe Island Photo Courtesy: Lord Howe Island Tourism Board
Recent Comments