Rat-free Lundy sees puffin numbers soar as more than 40,000 seabirds return

Off the coast of southwest England, the small island of Lundy was once a textbook case of how invasive rats can devastate seabird colonies. By the late 1990s, puffin numbers had crashed to just 13 breeding pairs, and many other seabirds had abandoned the island altogether. In 2002, conservationists launched an ambitious rat-eradication project to give the island’s wildlife a second chance. More than two decades later, the results are striking: puffins have rebounded to 1,335 individuals, and over 40,000 seabirds now return each year to nest on Lundy’s cliffs and burrows. As documented by the Lundy Field Society and The Landmark Trust, the island’s transformation shows what is possible when a community commits to removing a single, destructive invasive species.An island under siegeLundy, about 12 miles off the Devon coast, has long been a haven for seabirds. Its steep cliffs, grassy slopes and isolated location make it ideal for species such as puffins, guillemots, razorbills, Manx shearwaters and storm petrels. Historically, tens of thousands of birds nested there, filling the air with calls and shaping the island’s ecology.Then came the rats. Introduced centuries ago by ships, bro...