Scuba Diving club,
Southern California
Sea Sabres
Channel Islands National Park News Release
Release Date: December 5, 2001
Contact: Yvonne Menard
Phone: 805 658-5725
Island Restoration Project Commences
The
National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of
Fish and Game, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have
begun a restoration project to remove invasive black rats on Anacapa Island.
Non-native rats are responsible for an estimated 40-60% of bird and reptile
extinctions in the world. Rats prey on birds, reptiles, plants, and
invertebrates on Anacapa Island. "The purpose of this project is to
protect rare seabirds and other native wildlife on the island," said
Channel Islands National Park Superintendent Tim J. Setnicka. He notes,
"On Anacapa, rats eat the eggs, chicks, and adult Xantus' murrelets, a
small seabird whose world-wide distribution is extremely limited."
Dr.
Harry R. Carter, a seabird expert who has been studying the Xantus' Murrelets
at the Channel Islands since 1981, has noted substantial rat predation on
murrelet eggs during his monitoring. Carter estimates the current population
size of murrelets on the island as between 200-400 nests. He states, "The
population is likely to reach levels at least ten times larger, if not more,
than it is at present, without the detrimental effects from rats."
Today,
a helicopter carefully delivered bait on the rugged terrain of East Anacapa
Island. The application distributed bait to all rat territories at a rate of
approximately one pellet every square yard. This method is modeled after
successful rat eradication projects on other islands which have resulted in
considerable recovery of seabirds. To date, rats have been eradicated from over
70 islands worldwide by applying rodenticide in a bait; trapping alone has
never succeeded.
The
bait contains brodifacoum, an anticoagulant, which will cause the rats to die
within a few days after eating the bait. The bait that will be used contains
half the amount of rodenticide than is found in rodent-control products that
homeowners can purchase in the local grocery store. This application of rodenticide
will not accumulate in the environment; it immediately begins to break down
into harmless carbon dioxide and water once it lands on the ground with no
harmful byproducts.
Numerous
environmental groups have endorsed the project including the American Bird
Conservancy, Pacific Seabird Group, California Audubon Society, Endangered
Species Recovery Council, Audubon Living Oceans, and Jean-Michel Cousteau's
Ocean Futures. American Bird Conservancy President, George H. Fenwick, stated,
"The Anacapa Island project is precisely the type of well-designed,
extensively researched, and responsibly implemented program that the American
Bird Conservancy supports and encourages. The long-term benefits of rat
eradication on Anacapa Island are enormous for the conservation of one of North
America's most distinctive ecosystems."
This press release is available on line @: http://www.nps.gov/chis/press120501.htm
For more information on visiting the park go to the parks web site @ http://www.nps.gov/chis/homepage.htm or call 805 658-5730.
Man gets fined for giving Anacapa rats an antidote for the posion
Posted August 10, 2003