The invasive House Mouse is threatening seabirds and endangered wildlife on Marion Island in the Indian Ocean.
The House Mouse is becoming the biggest threat to seabirds on Marion Island. (Photo: Stefan and Janine Schoombie)
The House Mouse, an invasive species, is set to be eradicated from Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean to protect wandering albatrosses and other endangered seabirds, according to a report from Guardian on March 21. The House Mouse was accidentally introduced to this remote island by seal hunters in the 19th century. They have thrived in the warm, dry conditions for the past 30 years, devastating invertebrate populations and vegetation on the island, and then preying on fledgling birds, including seabirds nesting in caves and on the ground.
Marion Island, an uninhabited island near Antarctica located 2,200 km southeast of Cape Town, is home to millions of breeding seabirds, including four species of penguins and a quarter of the world’s wandering albatross population. Without action to combat the House Mouse, researchers predict that albatrosses will become extinct on the island, along with 18 out of 28 seabird species currently breeding there.
A helicopter team will be deployed from South Africa across the strong westerly winds of the Southern Ocean. In the winter of 2025 in the southern hemisphere, authorities will use helicopters to drop bait containing rodenticide over 30,000 hectares of the island. This is the only successful method for eradicating mice on large islands like South Georgia.
Eradicating invasive species on smaller islands is one of the most effective ways to restore island ecosystems and enhance biodiversity. In 2018, a decade-long rodent eradication project in South Georgia was declared a success. Several smaller rodent eradication projects have also helped revive seabird populations on British islands such as Lundy, Ramsey, and Shiant. However, eradication efforts on rugged and inaccessible islands are very challenging. For example, a large rodent eradication project on Gough Island in the South Atlantic has yet to yield results.
The Marion mouse eradication project is a collaboration between the South African government and the charity BirdLife. “Eradicating mice from Marion Island will ensure the ecological integrity of the island as well as the future of millions of birds that live there,” said the CEO of BirdLife South Africa.
