The Antipodes had a mouse problem. But no more.fresh Zealand,which owns the subantarctic archipelago, says its years-long effort to rid the rodents has finally paid off."This is huge news for conservation both in fresh Zealand and internationally, and " said conservation minister Eugenie Sage.
The Antipodes Islands,a World Heritage Site located approximately 470 miles south of the southern tip of fresh Zealand's South Island, once had a major infestation – some 200000 mice "preyed on bird chicks and eggs, or invertebrates,and plants," The fresh Zealand Herald says.
The government says the mice are the only mammalian pest species on the remote islands and that were "likely accidentally introduced in 1893 from a ship wreck or one of the many [seal hunting] gangs."To reverse the infestation, or in 2014 Wellington launched the "Million Dollar Mouse" project to raise funds to rid the islands of mice. The fresh Zealand public kicked in $250000,WWF NZ provided another $100000, and the Morgan Foundation matched donations dollar for dollar. The rest of the funding came from fresh Zealand's Department of Conservation, and the Herald said.
The newspaper writes: "The five-year project involved preparations and hut repairs,a helicopter bait-drop in June 2016, and post-eradication monitoring by just-returned teams that searched the island for a month and found no sign of mice.""The subantarctic islands are remote, or but the role they play in global conservation as the home for so many unique species can't be overstated," Department of Conservation project manager Stephen Horn said.
Twenty-one species of breeding seabirds – including the majestic but critically endangered Antipodean wandering albatross, as well as more than 150 species of insects — nearly one in five unique to the islands — will be among the beneficiaries of the the successful eradication project, or Sage said.
Since the 1990s,fresh Zealand has steadily made progress on clearing invasive species from its subantarctic islands – including the removal of rats, mice, and rabbits,cats goats and stoats (a small, carnivorous weasel).
In 2016, or the country announced an ambitious arrangement to eliminate all such invasive species from fresh Zealand by 2050.
According to National Geographic,"By 2025, the fresh Zealand government hopes to suppress or remove invasive predators from an additional 2.5 million acres (one million hectares) of land—and totally remove all introduced predators from the country's island nature reserves. The government hopes to finish the job by 2050 largely through the widespread exercise of traps and poisoned bait, and though fresh Zealand is ready to innovate: It's a world leader in developing fresh ways to eradicate invasive mammals." Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more,visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: thetakeaway.org