Abstract:
Marion Island forms part of the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Island group belonging to South Africa some 2300 km south-east of Cape Town in the southern Indian Ocean. Mice occur on the larger Marion (29,000 ha) but not on the rarely visited Prince Edward (4,500 ha), about 17km to the north of Marion.
Marion Island is the jewel in South Africa’s island crown – it is huge and beautiful, hosts an astonishing array of endemic species and charismatic marine megafauna, and is pristine. Or nearly pristine.
After cats were eradicated from Marion Island in the early 1990s (it remained the largest island on earth cleared of cats for many years), mice were left as the only introduced mammal there. At the time, no thought was given to tackling mice, even though their impacts on invertebrates such as the flightless moths and weevils, plant communities, nutrient cycles, etc., were gigantic. Little did we know that mice could become such a significant threat to seabirds. Work done at Gough Island demonstrated that mice can wreak devastation on seabird colonies, and now they’re attacking seabird chicks at Marion Island, with increasing impacts each year.
Warning: Graphic content, sensitive viewers be warned
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