Rain, rats and fire ants threaten the survival of the rare Tahiti monarch, despite a record best year for its conservation. Just 10 breeding pairs remain in the wild population, which numbers fewer than 50 mature birds in total. Efforts to save the birds won an award from conservation partnership BirdLife International. But experts warn […]
Tag: invasive species
New York Backtracks on Plans to Eradicate Mute Swans
Mute swans in New York will be getting a reprieve from slaughter following major public outcry over the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) plan to eradicate the state’s population over the next decade, but animal advocates are still concerned about their future. Earlier this year the DEC publicly announced its plan to list mute swans […]
Meeting the mammal that survived the dinosaurs
So, here I am, running in a forest at night over 2,000 miles from home. This forest—dry, stout, and thorny enough to draw blood—lies just a few miles north of a rural town in the western edge of the Dominican Republic on the border with Haiti. I’m following—or trying to keep pace with—a local hunter […]
Exotic migrant moths invade Britain under cover of darkness
An army of exotic migrant moths has invaded Britain under the cover of darkness, encouraged north by the gentle southerly breezes and balmy evenings of an Indian summer. The unprecedented autumn influx of rare insects includes the rosy underwing, the crimson speckled and the sinister death’s head hawkmoth, with another rare migrant moth, the Clifden […]
Shearwaters show signs of recovery as Allen Cay IBA is declared mouse-free
Allen Cay in the Bahamas, an important breeding site for Audubon’s Shearwater and home of an eponymous endemic iguana, has been declared free of the invasive house mice which were threatening both species. “This announcement is a major milestone for the recovery of Allen Cay, and we plan to replicate this success on other islands […]
Unconventional swine: how invasive pigs are helping preserve biodiversity in the Pantanal
Ordinarily, invasive and exotic species are a grave threat to native wildlife: outcompeting local species, introducing parasites and disease, and disturbing local ecological regimes. A unique case in the Brazilian Pantanal, however, has turned the tables; here, an introduced mammal has actually aided the conservation of native wildlife. The impact of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) […]
Saviours or villains: controversy erupts as New Zealand plans to drop poison over Critically Endangered frog habitat
New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) is facing a backlash over plans to aerially drop a controversial poison, known as 1080, over the habitat of two endangered, prehistoric, and truly bizarre frog species, Archey’s and Hochsetter’s frogs, on Mount Moehau. Used in New Zealand to kill populations of invasive mammals, such as rats and the […]
Giant snails on advance in Florida
South Florida is battling a growing infestation of the giant African land snail. The snail is considered one of the most destructive invasive species, feeding voraciously on more than 500 plant species. They can also eat through plaster walls, which provides the calcium content they need for their shells. Experts recently gathered at a science […]