Wipe out rat invaders to save planet’s island wildlife

KILLING rats, mice and feral cats on islands across the world could help save a tenth of the world’s most threatened species, scientists say.

Locations for culls identified by the RSPB and Birdlife International charities include 20 UK overseas territories.

Predators brought to these islands by humans are killing off native species, many of which are found nowhere else on the planet. As a result, islands have seen three-quarters of all known bird, mammal and reptile extinctions since 1500.

The study, published in the journal PLOS One, lists 169 islands where culls are needed. It says 107 have the political backing for the process to start as soon as next year.

Several UK territories already have such schemes, including South Georgia in the south Atlantic, where invasive rodents have been wiped out, and the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean where rats and feral cats are killed to protect endangered native iguanas.

Jonathan Hall, of the RSPB, said: ‘What is needed now is the political will and funding to restore these islands to their previous magnificence.’