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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Greenfield

Driving out invasive species on islands has high success rate and big benefits – study

A fixed point image shows the transformation of Redonda  in the Caribbean between 2016 and  2020, before and after black rats and feral goats were eradicated.
The transformation of Redonda in the Caribbean between 2016 and 2020, before and after black rats and feral goats were eradicated. Photograph: Jenny Daltry and Sophia Steele/FFI

Eradicating rats, goats and other invasive animals from islands is one of the most effective tools for protecting wildlife, resulting in dramatic transformations to degraded archipelagos and atolls, according to a new study.

From the dodo to Daudin’s giant tortoise, island species have been disproportionately affected by extinctions, often caused by the arrival of alien species brought by colonisers that killed wildlife found nowhere else on Earth.

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