Large Island Declared Rat-Free in Biggest Removal Success (nationalgeographic.com) 134
An anonymous reader shares a report: A remote, freezing, salt-spray lashed paradise for wildlife has been completely cleared of rats in the largest rodent eradication of all time, the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) announced this week. Rats are smart, adaptable, and hungry. For all these reasons, they can be incredibly voracious predators when people accidentally introduce them to remote islands, where the local animals lack evolved defenses to rodents. They have flourished even on an island as harsh and cold as South Georgia, which is so far south that it hosts penguins, elephant seals, and fur seals, as well as massive permanent glaciers.
"There are no trees, there are no bushes. All nest on the ground or underground in burrows," says Mike Richardson, Chairman of the SGHT Habitat Restoration Project Steering Committee. Such nests are easy pickings for rats. The rats -- brought to the island by whalers and sealers as early as the late 18th century -- ate the eggs and vulnerable chicks of seabirds, including albatrosses, skua, terns, and petrels. They also threatened two birds with extinction that are found nowhere else in the world: the South Georgia Pipit -- a tiny speckled songbird -- and the South Georgia Pintail, a brown duck.
The rat eradication was a massive, arduous undertaking, costing more than $13 million and taking nearly a decade. More than 300 metric tons of poison bait was dropped on the island by helicopter in three separate trips during the Austral Summers of 2010-2011, 2012-2013, and 2014-2015. Poisoned rats tend to head underground to die, Richardson says, limiting the damage caused to birds like gulls that might have otherwise eaten the poison-tainted carcasses.
"There are no trees, there are no bushes. All nest on the ground or underground in burrows," says Mike Richardson, Chairman of the SGHT Habitat Restoration Project Steering Committee. Such nests are easy pickings for rats. The rats -- brought to the island by whalers and sealers as early as the late 18th century -- ate the eggs and vulnerable chicks of seabirds, including albatrosses, skua, terns, and petrels. They also threatened two birds with extinction that are found nowhere else in the world: the South Georgia Pipit -- a tiny speckled songbird -- and the South Georgia Pintail, a brown duck.
The rat eradication was a massive, arduous undertaking, costing more than $13 million and taking nearly a decade. More than 300 metric tons of poison bait was dropped on the island by helicopter in three separate trips during the Austral Summers of 2010-2011, 2012-2013, and 2014-2015. Poisoned rats tend to head underground to die, Richardson says, limiting the damage caused to birds like gulls that might have otherwise eaten the poison-tainted carcasses.
A volcano will do that! (Score:4, Funny)
A volcano will do that!
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That's Big Island, not Large Island. -__-
Nine Roundest Islands (Score:1)
of course, what did I expect (Score:2)
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For some reason I read the title as "Lego Island declared rat free in biggest removal success"
http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.p... [moc-pages.com]
Re: 300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:5, Informative)
The most common rat poison is warfarin which is also used in humans as a blood thinner to prevent blood clots. Iâ(TM)m not saying there are no unknown negatives but rat poison is relatively safe at low doses and pretty well understood.
Re: 300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:5, Funny)
what a waste of resources! (Score:2)
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It would count as an extremely low dose if you're talking about whatever leeches into the ocean, like the post you're replying to is.
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I've read the side-effects document for blood-thinners. It increases the changes of strokes, bleeds on the brain, blood blisters. These have to be weighed against the danger of death or stroke from a DVT.
Wouldn't it be easier to use ultrasound or a HF magnetic field to break up a blood clot?
Re:300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:5, Informative)
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Also remember that the rat poison will not last forever, it slowly degrades...
Re:300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:5, Informative)
You can find all the relevant documents here [sght.org].
From the environmental impact study of Phase I:
A bait drop of the second generation anticoagulant toxin brodifacoum in cereal-based pellets will be distributed by helicopters using under-slung spreader buckets. This will be supplemented with hand spreading of baits in and around buildings and other areas inaccessible by air. Much of the interior of the island and the south coast will be unaffected by the baiting operations.
A little further in that document:
The baiting operation is likely to have negligible effects also on soil, water and vegetation as the toxin is not soluble and will break down to harmless products over a period of several months to a year. Similarly, effects on the marine environment are likely to be negligible due to the small amount of bait entering the sea and rapid break up and dispersal of the bait.
The eradication of the two reindeer herds on South Georgia is currently under consideration by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which has responsibility for this issue. Secondary poisoning due to feeding on poisoned carcasses is most likely for brown skua, snowy sheathbill and northern and southern giant petrels. Such losses should be sustainable at the population level, and numbers are predicted to recover on a scale of years.
And from the final report, this paragraph is interesting:
Over 4,600 inert devices, including chewsticks and tracking tunnels, were deployed and checked as part of the survey. The very best rodent detection experts were also brought in especially: three highly trained 'sniffer' dogs and their two skilled female handlers. In an incredible feat of endurance and teamwork reminiscent of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic crossing of the island just over a hundred years ago, the handlers walked a total of 1608km, with the dogs covering a total of 2420km, searching for signs of rats. This distance, roughly the equivalent of a return trip from London to Dundee, is all the more impressive given the rugged and challenging terrain of South Georgia.
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And from the final report, this paragraph is interesting:
Over 4,600 inert devices, including chewsticks and tracking tunnels, were deployed and checked as part of the survey. The very best rodent detection experts were also brought in especially: three highly trained 'sniffer' dogs and their two skilled female handlers. In an incredible feat of endurance and teamwork reminiscent of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic crossing of the island just over a hundred years ago, the handlers walked a total of 1608km, with the dogs covering a total of 2420km, searching for signs of rats. This distance, roughly the equivalent of a return trip from London to Dundee, is all the more impressive given the rugged and challenging terrain of South Georgia.
Is it necessary for them to point out that the canine handlers were women?
Re:300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:4, Funny)
Or skilled?
I'm sick of all these adjectives being tossed around all willy-nilly.
Nouns and verbs only, please.
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Well, of course males here at slashdot wouldn't be aware of beings that handle females.
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Though they didn't have 6 boobs.
Unlike many males on this site.
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Talk about trying to solve one problem and causing a domino effect of others.
It's better than their original plan of setting loose a bunch of snakes.
That's ok, they had a backup for the snakes. (Score:1)
They had lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
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The beauty is that, when winter comes, the gorillas all freeze to death. Foolproof plan.
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As explained by The Simpsons [youtube.com].
Re:300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:5, Informative)
Well, it depends on the poison, doesn't it?
In this case the pesticide used was brodifacoum -- a chemical analog of the anticoagulant warfarin. The reason brodifacoum is used in this application is that it is a large molecule that breaks down rapidly in the environment -- residue is undetectable after 100 days. The rapid breakdown in soil meaans that there is low potential for bioaccumulation or tolerance development. On the other hand repeated treatments are necessary.
This is why the eradication was so expensive. Had they tried this 100 years ago they'd have used thallium sulfate. Since pretty much all thallium compounds are toxic, fewer retreatments are needed, making thallium cost effective, if you don't count the side effects.
Re:300 tons of poision back.. into the ocean? (Score:4, Informative)
It's not really a poison per se.
It works by making the rats unable to clot blood, meaning if they start bleeding, they die from loss of blood. But there's more, the "bait" contains both the anticoagulant AND some normal food, usually grain with lots of fiber, designed to have lots of sharp edges. The rat eats this mixture, the grain causes internal bleeding and the anticoagulant makes it impossible for the bleeding to stop.
Neither of the components of the poison are immediately dangerous to people and should you actually ingest it, it's easily treated.
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Indeed, there is a case of a woman eating 1.5 kg of brodifacoum bait, and she survived. The treatment for brodifacoum poisoning is simply taking vitamin K. The poisoning effect is due to shutting down vitamin K synthesis, so simply taking vitamin K (which your body is not making) is a completely effective treatment.
Fantastic Work! (Score:5, Funny)
Can you do the Whitehouse next?
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How about the entirety of the Washington DC metro area?
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How about the entirety of the Washington DC metro area?
Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
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how about all USA?! :D
After that, we can take care of the remaining problems more easily!
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Looks good to me ... lets start to place the poison!! lets take care of those pests! :D
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Counts as humor on slashdot.
Of course, if one had said this about the previous president, one would "clearly" be a racist.
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Absolutely. I am racist against all politicians.
Just remember, you were the one who brought race into it.
Rats (Score:2)
Actually the world mice population is shrinking (Score:4, Funny)
The introduction of touch screens, tablets, and smart pens has greatly reduced their ecosystem. Should mice be considered at danger of extinction ?
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Hooray! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Hooray! (Score:2)
Re:Hooray! (Score:4, Informative)
It is true that the term did not exist until the 20th Century, but Darwin actually formulated the concept, and the rabbit invasion of Australia that occurred soon after 24 wild rabbits were released there in 1859 attracted a lot of attention.
Of course the rats were not introduced intentionally. Neither were tumbleweeds which came from Ukraine (probably in wheat seed shipments) and were first recorded in the U.S. in 1877. Nor the various invasive ant species (fire ants, crazy yellow ants, etc.) plaguing many parts of the world. Simply having people travel about without careful decontamination of belongings has created a lot of invasive introductions.
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Why do we need to vilify anything?
The time invasive species were introduced, the impact of such action wasn't known or the expected impact seems less the the reward of doing so. I know my life style isn't carbon neutral. While I try to reduce the pollution, fuel efficient cars, Using Wood Pellets vs Oil for heat, recycling what I can... I know there is much more I can do if I need to a net positive to the environment. Heck how much carbon is wasted on these posts on Slashdot?
But the point is we do things
Re: Hooray! (Score:2)
Not if your goal is to save birds. Cats would just as soon eat a bird as a rat.
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We introduced an invasive species and then destroyed them again at some cost to the environment. I hope it's clear that the villain in this story was not the rats.
They're not vegetarians, of course they are!
Re:Hooray! (Score:4, Interesting)
I hope it's clear that the villain in this story was not the rats.
There was no villain in this story at all.
Humans accidentally introduced a species, not on purpose. Humans then spent a lot of money and effort to understand and eradicate that species with minimal impact to the environment. Your "cost" is expected to be entirely negligible over time and no permanent damage has occurred.
Unless Dr Evil actually has his lair hidden on that island there's no villains to be found.
Rats? What are those? (Score:2)
I've heard of them, but I've never actually seen one in real life, since I live in Alberta, a province free of rats [theglobeandmail.com].
Of course, we're not really a "removal success" since we kept them out in the first place.
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Wish I hadn't commented earlier so I could mod this funny. Great that Alberta is free of rats. The downside being you have to live in the wasteland known as Alberta.
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Great that Alberta is free of rats
It isn't though, I've been there, they have rats. This is just bullshit propaganda, like: "Hey if we can keep rats out, we can keep immigrants out too right?"
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...since I live in Alberta, a province free of rats.
HA! If anyone *actually* believes that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you...
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I've never seen a wild rat in Alberta. Lots of mice and mosquitoes. Sometimes a rabbit or coyote in my back yard. No rats.
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I've heard of them, but I've never actually seen one in real life, since I live in Alberta, a province free of rats [theglobeandmail.com]
Alberta is free of rats because they’re scared of the marmots.
Are we on the right side of Earth history? (Score:2, Interesting)
In principle, stronger species replacing weaker ones is what evolution is about. Who are we to exterminate the species that succeeded? Even if we played some initial role in introducing them, it's their own fitness that got them to great numbers. Maybe intelligent successors of hardy rats will do archeological research on slashdot archives long after humans offed themselves of perished in a natural disaster. In the meantime, rat meat is eaten in a lot of cultures and rats can obviously be raised in great nu
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In principle, stronger species replacing weaker ones is what evolution is about. Who are we to exterminate the species that succeeded?
The stronger species. Is this a trick question or something?
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Think global, eat local.
We serve only the finest New York City rats.
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"Stronger" is a very poor term to use. Adaptation is dependent on the local environment and ecology. Often the invasive species has simply escaped the predators or diseases that keep them in check back home. A plant that takes over a new environment from native species that have local pathogens to contend with because it arrived without its native pathogens is not "stronger" it is just lucky.
Now let's see what the unintended consequences are (Score:1)
What ever the rats were eating may now end up with a massive increase in population, and the excreta that the rats generated had to be fertilizing something, so at least one other species won't do as well, and there will be knock on effects from that.
Re:Now let's see what the unintended consequences (Score:4, Insightful)
What ever the rats were eating may now end up with a massive increase in population..
Well... yeah. That was the entire point of the project.
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The summary and a nice excerpt from linked articles by Okian Warrior above pretty well says that the rats were so voraciously feeding on the eggs of indigenous birds that they were driving them to the edge of extinction. I sure hope that there are indeed knock on effects, like rebound of the affected species!
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They were eating seabirds, which are famous for fertilizing shorelines with their excreta. There may be a population explosion of seabirds, but since their feeding occurs out in a vast ocean, their increased presence will be a drop in the bucket.
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What ever the rats were eating may now end up with a massive increase in population
No shit sherlock, that was the entire point of the erradication, they were killing and eating the local wildlife population.
, and the excreta that the rats generated had to be fertilizing something, so at least one other species won't do as well, and there will be knock on effects from that.
Rats are not native to the environment on the island, hence a pest. Anything dependent on them can only also be a recent introduction so if it kills off other introduced species all the better. The island is mostly barrow with just ground shrub and I seriously doubt the Rats were providing any benefit that the birds couldn't.
great (Score:1, Troll)
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Slimy pieces of shit like you normally post as Anonymous Coward. Forgot to log out?
Location? (Score:3)
Southern Georgia [wikipedia.org]
Southern Georgia [wikipedia.org]
Apparently it's South Georgia. [wikipedia.org] Which I thought I had never heard of, but my browser's search history tells me otherwise.
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I've read this headline several times. My biggest question is, where is this taking place? Southern Georgia [wikipedia.org] Southern Georgia [wikipedia.org] Apparently it's South Georgia. [wikipedia.org] Which I thought I had never heard of, but my browser's search history tells me otherwise.
What the heck is up with all the ship propellers [google.com] on the Stromness beach? I can't fathom any reason for this whatsoever.
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I can't fathom any reason for this whatsoever.
From a quick search it was a former whaling station which featured among other things a floating ship repair yard. In the 30s it looks like they just dumped the props on the beach, but if you look at the pictures you'll see there's plenty of other industrial litter from their repair operations still laying around.
Better than drain the swamp (Score:2)
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No, they're not. Biggest open secret in Washington. EVERY group is a special interest group.
The problem is the lobbyists having *private* access to lawmakers. As part of their job, they should all be equipped with 360 degree body webcams from the time the enter office until the time they leave.
Rheindeer eradication too . . . (Score:3)
We were down in South Georgia a couple of years ago and the locals were talking about the various eradication programs.
Some time ago, reindeer were introduced in an attempt to create some sort of farming/hunting but of course the reindeer denuded the local grasses to the detriment of indigenous creatures. Culling the reindeer is a sight easier than culling rats, just needs a couple of guys with rifles.
We actually saw the last of a small reindeer herd in one of the bays, peacefully grazing.
I was going to say they'll be back (Score:2)
My first thought was they'd be back on the next boat in, but if the bait actually worked (rats are incredibly suspicious and I'd have figured them to strongly prefer eggs) and there's a lot left, there's nothing alive on the island that's adapted.
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Rat's might be suspicious but Warfarin and it's analogs are colorless, tasteless and odorless. Anything poisoned with it is undetectable to animals.
killing rats with coconuts (Score:2)
Rat Removal (Score:2)
I would have paid ... (Score:2)
Are feral cats next? (Score:1)
I hope so, they are just as bad.
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Betty White is still alive!
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Dick Clark died in 2012.
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Sorry. Still racist. You lose.