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As many people might be aware, introduced European Rabbit numbers on Australia's sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island have increased over the last 15 years with significant impacts on the island's vegetation.  The devastating loss of habitat over this time has also impacted on many of the island's seabird species, including ACAP-listed albatrosses and many of the burrowing petrels.

In May 2010 an attempt was made to begin the eradication of rabbits and rodents from Macquarie Island using poison bait dropped from helicopters (click here).  Unfortunately, only around 10% of the island was baited before the attempt had to be abandoned due to unrelenting bad weather.  Nevertheless, researchers Justine Shaw and Aleks Terauds visited the island this summer and report that the vegetation recovery in the baited areas is significant and encouraging.

In the six months since the bait was dropped rabbits have all but disappeared from the baited areas, tussock grass Poa sp. and Silver-leaf Daisy Pleurophyllum hookeri seedlings are in abundance and the Macquarie Island Cabbage Stilbocarpa polaris is starting to grow back in some of the places where it was badly grazed.  This bodes well for the success of the eradication operation due to start again in May 2011.  The operation is scheduled to start earlier this year to maximize the chances of better weather and a successful island-wide bait drop.

Regular news of the Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Project can be obtained from its newsletter Macquarie Dispatch.  Click here for the latest edition: No. 7 of February 2011.

With thanks to Aleks Terauds for information.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 2 February 2011