Alaska eradicated rats from a 6,869-acre Aleutian island more than two centuries after they arrived in a shipwreck; within two years some native bird populations had increased 200% or more and missing seabirds began returning

More than two centuries after a shipwreck brought non-native rats to a remote Alaskan island, removing the invasive rodents has led to a rapid recovery of wildlife across the 6,869-acre island in the Aleutian archipelago. According to monitoring reports and press releases from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Wildlife Refuge System, native bird populations on Hawadax Island increased by 200 per cent or more within just two years of the rat removal. Seabirds that had disappeared from the island have also started returning to its rocky cliffs to nest. The island, once known as Rat Island, got its invasive rat population around 1780 after a Japanese ship ran aground on its coast. The surviving Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) multiplied and began feeding on bird eggs, chicks and adult birds.

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