Black rat removal helped Zannone shearwater pairs rise from 27 to 80

On a Mediterranean island off Italy, a conservation project aimed at removing an invasive rodent produced a change that could be seen in the seabird colony. Zannone had been among the larger Italian islands targeted in the country’s expanding rat eradication programme. The work was part of a wider effort to remove black rats from islands where they posed a threat to native wildlife, particularly seabirds that nest in burrows. On Zannone, the eradication was completed in 2007. The number of breeding pairs of Scopoli’s shearwater subsequently rose from 27 in 2007 to 80 in 2016, giving conservationists a clear example of how removing an introduced predator could alter the fortunes of an island bird colony.Black rat eradication transforms Italy’s islands for native wildlifeBlack rats, or Rattus rattus, have been removed from a growing number of Italian islands since the late 1990s. The work was supported in many cases by the European Union’s LIFE programme, which helped fund projects designed to protect native island ecosystems. By the time of the review, rats had been eradicated from 14 Italian islands, with projects under way on five others.Islands offered a particular advantage for ...