It didn’t take long for the mice to start feeding on the albatross chick. “The bird was a complete fluffball,” says Janine. “So, they just climbed up its back and started nibbling at its head. We could see their teeth going into its flesh.” The bird, too young to walk let alone fly, could only shake its head in irritation. “As scientists our job is to not intervene,” says Stefan. “But we really wanted to help that bird.
Did they? Sadly, Reader, no...
”The next morning, they returned to the site to find that the chick had been joined by one of its parents – but the adult bird could also do nothing. “It was such a hopeless situation,” says Janine. A few days later, the chick succumbed to its injuries and was eaten by giant petrels.
Thankfully, the decisions haven't been left to scientists, but to those less squeamish about eradicating out-of-place vermin.
Assuming the project achieves its funding targets, these tests will culminate in the winter of 2028 when five or six helicopters (brought to the island by ship) will distribute poisoned bait across the entire island, in an attempt to eliminate the pests that were unintentionally introduced to the island by 19th-century sailors. If successful, it will be the largest ever eradication of mice in a single operation.
Though eradicating other menaces may prove harder:
The efforts to start improving the fortunes of the island’s birds could not have come at a better time. Last week, the South African goverment announced that bird flu had been confirmed as present on the island for the first time.
The decision to eradicate the mice was not taken lightly, says MFM project manager Anton Wolfaardt: “I’m a biologist,” he says. “I don’t like killing things.”
How did you manage a biology degree without dissection, then?
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