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Rat Eradication - Freeing Islands of Destructive Predators By Darren Christie of
Falklands Conservation One of the most serious conservation issues affecting small islands is that of introduced predators. In the Falklands, these are mainly rats, cats and foxes. Rat eradication in the Falklands has been carried out since 2001 with the assistance of an expert wildlife management team from New Zealand, headed up by Derek Brown. They began by trialing methods on small offshore islands, and undertook training of Falklands Conservation staff, as well as drawing up a list of priority islands to be cleared. This work has continued, with Falklands Conservation developing more expertise in the process over the last three years, culminting in the clearance in 2003 of North East Island, off Lively. This island is the largest island in the world to have been cleared of rats by hand and was critical for the long-term protection of Lively Island from invasion by rats. Based on this experience, staff at Falklands Conservation are now able to complete the plannigng of rat eradication from islands around the Falklands confidently. The clearance of North West Island is Falklands Conservation's first solo eradication. On Friday August 6, a pair of follhardy adventurers (myself and Andy Black) set out from Port Sussex heading for Outer North West Island. The morning was spent ferrying over a ton of equipment in a rigid inflatable boat driven by Sam Miller. A distance totalling over sixty nautical miles was travelled by the end of the day. The last trip got us to the island at low tide, so all the gear had to be carried ashore after wading a fair distance whilst being encouraged along by three overly friendly sealions. The afternoon was spent clearing an area to set up camp and moving all the equipment up into the tussac. After an early night (asleep by 8pm) we spent the following day finishing off our new campsite, and filling twenty-five sandbags with shingle from the beach to build a sheltered cooking area at the camp. This took most of the day and was hard work, but we had everything ready for the arrival of the rest of the team the following day. Luckily the weather was on our side on Sunday and we managed to get the remaining five people (Jay and Sean Moffat, Nic Huin, John Pole-Evans and Andy Douse) to the island without incident. After they settled down and unpacked, it was straight into the real hard work. Outer North West Island is sixty-five hectares in size and is about 95% tussac. Unfortunately the island was burnt in the 1980s, damaging a lot of tussac. However this did mean that the island was slightly more open and easier to work than it could have been, despite a lot of regrowth. The work started by laying out a spine of bamboo poles fifty metres apart down the approximate centre of the island. The distance was measured out using lengths of string cut in the office before the trip (technical stuff!). Due to the uneven shape of the island, another spine was laid at 90 degrees to the main line. This took up most of what remained of the day, and it was something that I'd hoped to achieve on the Monday. At the time it was raining, so was a good use of time, as baiting cannot be carried out in the wet. The forecast for Monday was poor for the afternoon, but after a time of laying out baiting lines (without throwing bait) trying to guess what was going to happen, I took the decision to push on with the baiting and to hope for the best. Using the fifty metre markers we laid out the day before, compass bearings at ninety degrees to the main lines were followed, and a measured amount of bait thrown every twenty-five metres. By having two teams running parallel to each other I could make sure that the lines didn't deviate too much. If the lines diverged at all, I was able to fill in the gaps between the lines. Baiting progressed well, and we had covered nearly a third of the lines (albeit the shortest ones) by the end of the day. As we were cooking dinner in the evening, the threatened rain arrived in force and gave us a good soaking. This could have been a major setback, and might have required the rebaiting of the previous days lines. Luckily the bait hadn't broken down overnight, and we could carry on. On Tuesday we covered a huge part of the island, and over two thirds was baited by the end of the day. Wednesday saw the departure of Jay and Sean Moffat, a loss, as they both worked hard and tackled everything with a good sense of humour - very important on a project like this. As luck would have it, leaving was a very intelligent move on their part, as Wednesday proved to be the hardest day of all. The area remaining consisted of undamaged tussac, and we were all glad when the day was over and we could settle down for a well earned meal and a rest. All that remained was to bait the coast, which could wait until the following day. Unfortunately, Thursday arrived with a howling gale, making any boat work impossible. The day was therefore ours to explore. After baiting the coast in the morning, the afternoon was spent keeping an eye open for any dead rats on the surface which could prove a threat to scavenging raptors. Luckily, none were spotted which was a good sign. A lot of the bait had also vanished, which meant the rats were taking it and stashing it underground, another good thing. Friday dawned with Sam and the boat setting out at some horrendous hour so we could start shifting equipment at first light. This was achieved in two boat loads, exactly a week after Andy and I had arrived on the island. Three islands remain to be cleared in the area, but none as big. At sixty-five hectares, Outer North West is the second largest island that Falklands Conservation have cleared, so this was quite an achievement. The project would not have been possible without Sam Miller or the team of volunteers on the island. Thanks are also due to the office staff at Falklands Conservation for all their support, the staff at the hospital for preparing medical supplies, Ally Marsh for getting the bait to the Falklands, and especially Richard Stevens and family at Port Sussex for letting us use their house and cabin. There is massive scope in the Falklands for many more islands to be cleared. A new list of priority islands is being drawn up for next season's efforts, and the remaining smaller islands in the North West Group are still waiting to be cleared. Thos most important part of the project is having a committed team of volunteers to carry out the work, and anyone interested in volunteering for future projects is invited to contact Falklands Conservation. First published in the Penguin News on 10 September 2004 and reproduced with the kind permission of the Editor
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