Boost for birds as Shiant Isles are declared rat-free
THE Shiant Isles have been officially declared rat-free, thanks to a four-year partnership project to restore them as a secure haven for nesting seabirds.
A month-long intensive monitoring check in February found no sign of rats. This means that none has been recorded there for two years, the internationally agreed criterion for rat-free status.
The Shiants seabird recovery project, funded by EU LIFE+, started in 2014 and is a partnership between the Nicolson family, custodians of the islands for three generations, Scottish Natural Heritage and RSPB Scotland.
Over the past four years the project has focused on making the islands a safe place for seabirds to raise their chicks by removing the invasive, non-native black rats that were there.
Another key part of the project is a programme of research monitoring the response of the ecosystem to the removal of rats. It is anticipated that seabirds such as puffins, razorbills and guillemots will see improved breeding successes which could eventually support population increases in these long-lived seabirds breeding on the Shiants. It is hoped that Manx shearwaters and storm petrels will begin to nest on the islands as well.
The Shiants, a remote cluster of islands five miles east of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, is one of the most important seabird breeding colonies in Europe, hosting around 100,000 pairs of nesting seabirds each year.
However, there was evidence that the rats fed on the seabirds’ eggs and chicks, having a detrimental impact on their breeding success. With many seabird populations facing declines in Scotland, it was vital that action was taken to safeguard those nesting on the Shiants.
An operation to eradicate the rats was carried out over the winter of 2015/16, led by a New Zealand-based company Wildlife Management International Limited (WMIL), with the help of 15 volunteers.
In order to ensure that the islands remain free of rats, and other mammalian predators, visitors are being asked to follow simple biosecurity measures. This includes checking boats and kit for signs of rats prior to departing for the Shiants, and looking out for signs of them when on the islands.