42 tons of poison to be dumped on island to eradicate rats
In a radical move to eliminate pests and save local wildlife, pristine Lord Howe Island will be blitzed from the air with poison.
By Bryan NelsonWed, Jan 13 2010 at 9:13 PM EST
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E-RAT-ICATION: Invasive black rats could cause the extinction of most of Lord Howe Island's native species if they are not eradicated. (Photo: Vermin Inc/Flickr) Since being accidentally introduced in 1918, black rats have wreaked havoc on the unique wildlife of Australia's idyllic Lord Howe Island. Now in one of the most radical pest-extermination programs ever attempted, officials are calling for the native species to be rounded up while 42 tons of poison-laced bait are dropped over the island.
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Although similar pest-eradication projects have occasionally been carried out on uninhabited islands before, this is the first time such a project has been contemplated in a place with a substantial human population. Lord Howe's 350 permanent residents will be given muzzles for their pets and are being told to keep an eye on their children while the bombardment occurs.
Meanwhile, entire populations of native birds will be caught and kept in cages for 100 days after the poison is dropped for their own protection, and all cows and chickens on the island will be slaughtered or shipped to the mainland beforehand.
Stephen Wills, chief executive of the Lord Howe Board, told The Independent that he supports the program. "This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, which is why it warrants such a significant and detailed program."
World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island is so isolated from Australia's mainland that many of its native species can be found nowhere else, and it is said to be washed with the cleanest ocean on the planet. Two-thirds of it is a protected reserve while its surrounding waters are a marine park.
But those protections alone have not not helped the island deal with an invasive rat population. Already blamed for the extinction of five endemic bird species, the rats now threaten 13 other native birds, two reptiles, five plants and numerous invertebrates.
The rats pose a significant danger to the pristine habitat that makes the island unique, but many of the locals have expressed concerns about the radical nature of the plan. "The poison exposes the island, its environment and the people to a great deal of danger," local Clive Wilson told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I think they will do a lot of damage and in the end, there will still be rats."
The poison is scheduled to be dropped over the island beginning in August 2012. If approved, it would involve two separate aerial bombardments two weeks apart, as well as baiting by hand. The poison is expected to become harmless after 100 days.
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Comments
Chinook
01/15/2010 14:40 PM
Its this type of poor journalism that gives scientists a bad rap. Its NOT 42 tons of poison, it IS 42 tons of bait which will include 840 GRAMS of poison. Mr. Nelson practiced poor journalism to paint an untrue image of indiscriminate spraying. Check your facts Mr. Nelson read the plan yourself at .... More
bindy
08/15/2010 09:43 AM
Glad you cleared that up. I was thinking they had gone a little nutty over there. I wouldn't my kids, animals or all island creatures to be bombarded with 42 tons of air poison. (Although, I'm pretty sure if I lived there we would take a little 3 day vacation anyway as the stuff fell.)
Pdx Raven
01/15/2010 13:22 PM
....please let the experts determine the best solution to a serious, pending environmental disaster!
May I also call your attention to a rat eradication right here in the high and mighty US of A - a Channel Island. (see link, below)
The LHI board has carefully reviewed that success story in planning for their own rat eradication. I wish them much success and hope that it will help them keep their Unesco World Heritage Site designation.
.... More
Susan Jorgensen
01/15/2010 12:04 PM
There has to be another solution, this is negligent destruction, an easy way.
Ankhorite
01/15/2010 02:40 AM
Food and other goods must come into the island by ship. How will this plan prevent the island from being re-infested by the first fertile pair of wharf rats to hit their shores after the poison goes stale?
Reggie
01/15/2010 00:42 AM
What about all the plants and habitation. If this chemical messes up the plants then they die or could die and then the whole vegetation will be affected and could effect the growth of plants in that habitat. Insects are one. What kind of damn poison are they talking about. **** it still on earth let the population of rats deal with themselves. What about the air. Thats like years of carbon monixide build up in atlanta all at one time. I sure hope this **** doesn't effect the atsmophere. That .... More
bonnie jay
01/14/2010 19:30 PM
The idea is so bad on so many levels it's unconscionable. The cats, the bounty and shooting at night with night vision goggles would be far better,
Chinook
01/14/2010 18:45 PM
Also this article is a bit misleading as it makes it sound like they'll be just spraying poison all over the place. The poison is actually placed in traps that are dropped in a grid pattern over the island. Of course, rats that escape the traps before death will be hazardous to any dog that eats them, but the island has a leash law.
Chinook
01/14/2010 18:39 PM
The poison's the best way. Lord Howe has had a bounty on rats since the 1920's. People catch them like crazy but it hasn't made a dent as most of the island is extremely rugged and inaccessible.
Cats were a bigger threat than the rats and have been eradicated from the island. On LHI the cats liked to eat all the ground nesting birds and devastated the birds leaving the harder to catch rats happily multiplying.
The muzzles are to keep the local dogs from eating any dead rats by the.... More
Guest
01/14/2010 18:37 PM
I don't like killing critters without a good reason but there are 2 things that always need to die,bugs and rats. I hope this experiment works so well they do it everywhere in the world that's infested. The only live rats in the whole world should be in laboratories waiting to be cut to pieces.
Nate
01/14/2010 18:23 PM
It would be significantly better to take spayed and neutered cats from animal shelters, implant tracking chips, then set them free for a while. Because they cannot breed and can easily be tracked down and collected afterwards the problem can be resolved without potentially significant health and environmental ramifications. How can you know a species of creature might not become extinct -- rare insects, perhaps -- or that the people living in the area might not accidentally be effected by the.... More
ghostlogic
01/14/2010 18:06 PM
"42 Tons of Poison Dropped on Inhabited Island to Kill Rats...
To protect local wildlife, entire populations of native birds will be caught and kept in cages for 100 days for their own protection. All cows and chickens will be slaughtered or shipped to the mainland, while dog owners will be offered muzzles for their pets, and parents will be advised to keep a close eye on their children."
Are there people on the island or not? And why would you muzzle dog owners, and not the dogs.... More
No Copy Editor
01/15/2010 11:10 AM
I think that reads just right. I'm not sure what you are taking from it, but the wording is perfectly fine.
Guffy
01/14/2010 17:45 PM
Bring in the cats. Populate the Island with 1000's of farm cats, that'll get rid of em. Then when the cat population gets out of hand bring in the dogs. Then the cougars. Then the cougars will naturally die off because there wont be enough young men to go around.
Dale
01/14/2010 17:36 PM
So they are going to kill all the native insects as well? Sounds like these people are on drugs. What a dumb idea.
Justin
01/14/2010 17:15 PM
Pay $3 per rat that people catch and kill..and as the rat population dwindles up the ante. I guarantee they will hunt them down and kill them all
Jay
01/14/2010 17:45 PM
And then I would move to the island, and breed the freaking rats, to turn in as wild rats that I caught, so as to get a large reward. That won't work, now will it?
Ronna Sommers
01/14/2010 17:23 PM
A bounty on rats is THE brightest and most sensible idea yet!! Can you believe college educated folks cannot come to this solution, themselves??? What peabrained idiots are in charge?? God help us all....
Rattus
09/13/2010 22:51 PM
Please I urge tyou to read on this issue and how successful eradicatyions have been before opening your mount - or using your fingers to write this rubbish!!. Leave this to people who understand what needs to be done rather than coming up with suggestions that WILL NOT ERADICATE (not control - read up on the difference!!) rodents.
Guest
01/14/2010 17:11 PM
this a great first step, but does not go far enough. this island is too important to let ANY species threaten it. they should be dropping much more poisonous chemicals, more frequently, and without giving anyone any protection. then they will have the completely sterile wasteland which they so desire.
*and no people would ever be allowed back. EVAR
Rattus
09/13/2010 22:53 PM
Again, please think before you type - this is another example of online garbage - educate yourself and read the Plan and the references contained within it!
Destroyer
01/14/2010 16:17 PM
I think its a good idea to rid the island of the didease carrying pests
Uncle B
01/14/2010 11:01 AM
Must be a better way to trap the rats, by fermones or something, then bio-gas the corpses into compressible bottled gas and top soil building sludge, and a fertilizing effluent free of poisons? Straight-forward poisoning seems to simplistic, but possibly the fastest solution. Who or what will deal with all the decaying, and poisonous rat corpses? Seems a shame to waste a potentially valuable resource flow? Even China grows algae in sewage ponds to feed the Carp they sell to American markets..... More
What Haveyou
01/14/2010 17:00 PM
"Straight-forward poisoning seems to simplistic"
seems TOO simplistic
It's three letters, people. Pathetic.
Vie
01/14/2010 07:49 AM
while I can see the need for getting the rat population stopped .. Why not you sterilization.How in the world do you capture the birds? and other wild life.? And what about the shock tho their systems being in cages?
And one very important population HUMANS. This is not a good plan.
Rattus
09/13/2010 22:56 PM
READ the Plan - again do not type before you understand. Considerable effort has been expended in preparing the Plan utilising world best practice - including risk assessment and management
