The sub-Antarctic territory of Marion Island is a crucial breeding spot for wandering albatrosses. The wide-winged bird is classified as vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The albatrosses tend to breed only once every two years and raise a single chick, making it crucial that these chicks survive.
But on the island, they face the unexpected challenge of invasive house mice.
First introduced by sealers in the early 1800s, these mice have thrived in the changing climate. As the island becomes warmer and drier their breeding season lengthens and their populations increase, as Sheree Bega reports.
During the winter, when food is scarce, the mice step up their attacks on the seabirds. They have also decimated native invertebrates on the island. Scientists predict the mice may cause the local extinction of 19 of Marion Island’s 29 bird species, including the wandering albatross.
The birds are naive and haven’t realised the mice are a threat. But the mice are well-aware about what a good source of protein the birds are. That’s why researchers and other organisations are working on ways to eradicate the mice.
Read more below about these initiatives and how scientists followed the gruesome attack on a chick.
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Ozayr Patel | Climate & Environment Editor | @Ozayr8
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