Rat Island is officially rat free
October 2013. Biologists have confirmed that Rat Island, a remote island in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, is now rat-free for4 the first time for 230 years. The report comes after two years of careful field monitoring at Rat Island, where the invasive predator caused major declines on native bird populations by preying on eggs and chicks and altered the native ecosystem in numerous ways.
Largest rat eradication in Northern Hemisphere
Restoring habitat on Rat Island to benefit native wildlife is the largest rat eradication ever undertaken in the Northern Hemisphere and the first in Alaska. The eradication of the non-native rats took place in September of 2008 after four years of planning. The restoration of the 10-square-mile island was accomplished by Island Conservation, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
7,000 acres reclaimed for wildlife
"Rat Island is the most ambitious restoration effort we've undertaken on a refuge island, and we couldn't have done it without our partners," said Geoff Haskett, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Nearly 7,000 acres of wildlife refuge habitat has been reclaimed for native wildlife and that is an exciting result.
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