Thursday, November 15, 2012

Rat kill in Galapagos Islands targets 180 million

A project to eradicate 180 million rats from the Galapagos Islands by air dropping poison bait is gathering pace.
The invasive Norway and black rats were introduced by whalers and buccaneers at the beginning of the 17th century Photo: Alamy image
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The unique bird and reptile species that make the Galapagos Islands a treasure for scientists and tourists must be preserved, Ecuadorean authorities say — and that means the rats must die, hundreds of millions of them.
A helicopter is to begin dropping nearly 22 tons of specially designed poison bait on an island Thursday, launching the second phase of a campaign to clear out by 2020 non-native rodents from the archipelago that helped inspire Charles Darwin's theory of evolution...Continue reading...

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