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Rat eradication in the Pitcairn Islands, South Pacific: a 25-year perspective
Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB
Available Online

Brooke, M.de L.

2019
This essay offers a 25-year overview of eff orts to remove Pacific rats (Rattus exulans) from the four islands of the Pitcairn group. Following the 1991–1992 discovery that rats were severely reducing breeding success of gadfly petrels (Pterodroma spp.), Wildlife Management International proposed eradication. Eradication success was achieved using ground-based baiting on the small atolls of Ducie and Oeno in 1997, and there is now evidence of petrel recovery on Oeno, but two eradication attempts on inhabited Pitcairn (1997 and 1998) failed. By the early 2000s, the development of aerial baiting through the 1990s placed an eradication operation on the fourth island, Henderson, within reach. Preparatory fieldwork in 2009 allayed doubts in two key areas: the feasibility of maintaining a captive “back-stop” Henderson rail (Porzana atra) population, and bait uptake by crabs (Coenobita spp.). Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) expertise secured the necessary funding of £1.5 million, and 75 tonnes of brodifacoum-containing bait were dropped in August 2011. Despite extensive mortality of free-living rails, the population, supplemented by released captive birds, returned to pre-operational levels in 2–3 years. Meanwhile those tending captive rails saw no rat sign before leaving Henderson in November 2011. Unfortunately, a rat was sighted in March 2012, and continuing rat presence confirmed in May 2012. Subsequently rat numbers have returned to pre-operational levels without any sign of population ‘overshoot’ as observed on Pitcairn. Genetic analysis suggests around 80 rats, roughly 1 in 1,000, survived the bait drop. With no evidence of imperfect bait coverage or deficiencies in bait quality or brodifacoum resistance, it seems some animals chose not to eat bait. Choice tests on Henderson Island rats suggest some rats prefer natural foods over bait. This adverse situation may have been exacerbated because, in August 2011, natural fruits were more abundant than anticipated due to drought earlier in the year. To overcome rat preference for natural food, any second Henderson attempt might benefit from more attractive bait. Without such developments, a second attempt risks another failure. Henderson’s biota will survive the delay.
Report of the Fourteenth (14th) and final meeting of the Regional Meteorological Services Directors (RMSD) and the First (1st) Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-1), 8–12 August 2011, Majuro, Marshall Islands
Available Online

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)

2012
The Regional Meteorological Services Directors (RMSD) Meeting convened for its 14th session at the International Conference Centre in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands from 9–12th August 2011. It was preceded by a Pacific Regional Meteorological Services Directors Workshop in Support of Climate Adaptation Planning in the Pacific Islands on 8th August. The objectives of the meeting were for participants to formulate and establish a clear understanding of the Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC), the Pacific Desk Partnership concept (since renamed as the Pacific Meteorological Desk Partnership, PMDP), and the Pacific Meteorological Strategic Plan (PMSP) (2012– 2015). A total of 54 participants attended the meeting. Primarily the participants were Meteorological Service Directors and representatives from American Samoa, Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America and Vanuatu. Representatives of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, SPREP, SPC, WMO, UNESCO-IOC, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, University of Oklahoma, Pacific ENSO Applications Climate (PEAC) Centre (co-located at the University of Hawaii and the University of Guam) were also present