Uri Geller hailed a group of kayakers who have helped eradicate the only rat that lived on the Scottish island that he owns.
The self-proclaimed psychic bought Lamb, an uninhabitable island between Fidra and Craigleith in the Firth of Forth off the coast of North Berwick, in 2008 for £30,000 after claiming Pharaoh Tutankhamen's half-sister, Scota, may have buried treasure on the island.
Volunteers have been looking for the rodent, which can be a threat to breeding seabirds as they target their eggs and young, since November 2020 when conservationists decided action was needed.
The island attracts nesting-birds such as puffins, cormorants, kittiwakes and guillemots.
Working with the Scottish Seabird Centre, volunteers from the Lothian Sea Kayak Club made a total of 35 trips due to the difficulties of larger boats getting access to the uninhabitable island.
The team find that there was only one rodent on the Lamb after using motion-detection cameras. They set down a number of traps containing poison-laced food and the rat has not been seen since December.
Geller, 75, said on BBC Scotland: "I was astounded when I saw the infrared image of the rat. My island is not that tiny so to locate one rat is a big achievement. Thank you very much, a big hug and good positive energy from me to them."
Sarah Lawrence, biosecurity officer with the Biosecurity for LIFE project, also hailed the efforts of the volunteers.
She said: The dedication of Lothian Sea Kayak Club’s volunteers on The Lamb is a fantastic example of a community coming together to protect their local seabirds.
"The volunteers have spent two winters navigating harsh weather, Covid restrictions, and the frustrations of seeking a very elusive rat – and thanks to their hard work we are confident that The Lamb’s puffins and other seabirds will return to nest on a rat-free island this year.
"It’s been a pleasure to work with the Scottish Seabird Centre and Lothian Sea Kayak Club on this project, and we look forward to continuing this collaboration to protect the Forth Islands SPA from the arrival of invasive predators in the future."
According to UriGeller.com, The Lamb is "included in the fifteenth century manuscript called the Scotichronichon, by the Abbot of Inchcolm, Walter Bower, who claimed that the Scottish people were descendants of the ancient Egyptians.
Geller told BBC Radio Scotland Drivetime: "Very few people know that Lamb is a mysterious and enigmatic island. And it's claimed to be one of the great pyramids of Scotland. No-one knows that in Scotland.
"It's really one of three rocky outcrops which mirror the layout of the pyramids in Giza in Cairo. I was always fascinated by the connection between the pyramids and these Islands."
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