Johannesburg: Conservationists said Saturday that they plan to bomb a remote South African island with tonnes of pesticide-laced pellets, Agence France-Press(AFP) reported. This measure is aimed at eradicating mice that are preying on albatrosses and other seabirds.
Hordes of mice are consuming the eggs of some of the world’s most significant seabirds nesting on Marion Island, located about 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) southeast of Cape Town. According to conservationist Mark Anderson, these mice have even begun eating live birds.
Additionally, this includes the iconic Wandering Albatross, with a quarter of the world’s population nesting on the Indian Ocean island. Speaking at a meeting of BirdLife South Africa, Anderson was quoted as saying by AFP,” The mice have now, for the first time last year, been found to be feeding on adult Wandering Albatrosses. BirdLife South Africa is set to be the country’s leading bird conservation organisation.
The images displayed at the meeting showed bloodied birds, some with flesh chewed off their heads. Of the 29 species of seabirds that breed on the island, 19 are threatened with local extinction, the Mouse-Free Marion Project said, AFP reported.
According to Anderson, mouse attacks have intensified in recent years, but the birds are unsure how to react as they evolved without terrestrial predators.
While speaking to AFP, Anderson said,” Mice just climb onto them and just slowly eat them until they succumb.” “We are losing hundreds of thousands of seabirds every year through the mice,”he further added.
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