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Rat Island Ran Out of Rats!
By Yano
9:00 AM
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A view of Rat Island in the western Aleutians is seen in this March 28, 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge/Handout.-
Since 1780, Aleutian Island has been infested with the non-native Norway rats, after they jumped off a sinking Japanese ship to saftey, on what is now most popularly known as Rat Island. It took 229 years, but after dousing the island with poison, it appears to finally be rat free. While on the island, these rats drove away and terrorized all but the biggest birds, which are slowly beginning to return.
"The $2.5 million Rat Island eradication project, a joint effortbetween the U.S. federal government, the Nature Conservancy and
Island Conservation, is one of the world's most ambitious attempts to remove
destructive alien species from an island. Now there are signs that several
species of birds, including Aleutian cackling geese, ptarmigan, peregrine
falcons and black oystercatchers, are starting to nest again on the
10-square-mile (26-sq-km) island."-Reporting by Yereth Rosen; writing by Bill Rigby; editing by Eric Beech
After the next two years or monitoring, we will be able to determine whether the island is truelly rat-free.
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