In 1815, cats arrived on Ascension Island; they drove huge seabird colonies away

A feral cat with a tipped ear, indicating it was neutered in a trap-neuter-return program. Images Credit: Brocken Inaglory/Wikipedia Ascension Island offers a striking example of how quickly an introduced predator can reshape an island’s wildlife. Cats brought to the South Atlantic island in 1815 preyed heavily on seabirds, driving almost all species away from the main island and leaving surviving colonies in places cats could not reach. More than a century later, conservationists began a major effort to remove the feral cats while protecting the island’s domestic animals and people.The campaign succeeded, and the last feral cat was killed in January 2004. In the years that followed, seabirds began returning to parts of the mainland where they had previously been unable to breed safely. The study published in ‘Oryx’ (The International Journal of Conservation, Cambridge University Press) documents both the difficult eradication campaign and the early signs of recovery, showing how removing one invasive predator can reopen habitat for wildlife.How did cats change Ascension island’s seabird coloniesAscension Island is a 97-square-kilometre island in the tropical South Atlantic. Althou...