Midway Atoll eradicated invasive rats after Bonin petrels had fallen to fewer than 5,000 nesting pairs

Black rat eradication restored Midway Atoll’s ecosystem, helping Bonin petrels rebound from fewer than 5,000 to over 135,000 breeding pairs The successful removal of invasive black rats from Midway Atoll led to an extraordinary recovery of the local Bonin petrel population, which grew from fewer than 5,000 nesting pairs to more than 135,000 pairs. According to long-term conservation research and field reports from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the rat eradication removed a major threat that had pushed the island’s burrowing seabird colonies close to collapse.Invasive rats destroy seabird coloniesMidway Atoll is a small, isolated group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean. It was once one of the world’s most important seabird breeding areas. Before non-native mammals arrived, hundreds of thousands of Bonin petrels (Pterodroma hypoleuca) returned to the atoll every year. The birds dug deep burrows in the sand, laid their eggs, and raised their young there. Federal wildlife records show that before 1943, more than 500,000 Bonin petrels nested across Sand Island and Eastern Island. This changed during the Second World War. In 1943, black rats (Rattus rattus) accidentally escaped...