Cull invasive mammals to save island species, experts urge

Move ‘would save 10% of all endangered birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles’

Patrick Barkham

Wed 27 Mar 2019 18.00 GMT

Nearly 10% of the world’s bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile species currently on the brink of extinction could be saved by killing invasive mammals such as cats and rats on 169 islands, according to a new study.

Islands comprise just 5.3% of the Earth’s landmass yet have experienced 75% of known bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile extinctions since 1500. More than a third of species currently classified as “critically endangered” on the IUCN Red List are found on islands, with many particularly vulnerable to just eight species – including feral pigs, dogs, goats and mongooses – introduced by humans.

Research published in the journal Plos One identifies the disproportionate impact programmes to remove non-native species from islands can have in slowing the global rate of extinction.

“Eradicating invasive mammals from islands is a powerful way to remove a key threat to island species and prevent extinctions and conserve biodiversity,” said lead author Dr Nick Holmes of Island Conservation.

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Japan defies IWC ruling on ‘scientific whaling’

Tokyo announces new round of culls in the Southern Ocean despite a majority ‘no’ vote at International Whaling Commission

Arthur Neslen

theguardian.com, Thursday 18 September 2014 12.39 BST

Japan has responded to a non-binding International Whaling Commission (IWC) vote to impose strict limits on its ‘scientific whaling’ programme, by announcing that it will proceed with a new round of culls in the Southern Ocean next year regardless.

The 65th meeting of the world’s whale conservation body voted by 35 to 20 with five abstentions in favour of a resolution by New Zealand, requiring members to put future scientific whaling programmes to the IWC’s scientific committee and the biennial commission itself for guidance.

Had Japan respected the vote, it would have extended until 2016 a one year moratorium that Tokyo declared after the International Court of Justice judged it in breach of IWC rules on scientific whaling.

But Japanese diplomats at the summit in Slovenia said that they would not be bound by the resolution because they took a different interpretation of the ICJ ruling, and would proceed with the new round of research whaling in the Southern Ocean that they had already declared.

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US government called to account after agency kills 4 million animals in 2013

Critics call for more transparency over reasons for massive culls of 'damaging' species by federal Wildlife Services

Darryl Fears for the Washington Post

Guardian Weekly, Monday 16 June 2014 10.00 BST

For years, the massive toll of wild animals exterminated by the US federal government as a service to everything from airports to ranches has bounced up and down like a yo-yo.

Near the turn of the century, the number of kills reached 4 million. Two years later, in 2001, it fell to about 1.5 million and stayed relatively low for six years. But in 2008, the figure rocketed to 5 million before trending downward to 3 million over the next four years. Now it's back up, past 4 million in the most recent count, and critics are pressing the US Department of Agriculture outfit that does the killing to do a better job of explaining why.

Over 15 years, at least 40 million animals have been shot, poisoned, snared and trapped by Wildlife Services, which says only that the exterminations are a service to those who "experience damage from wildlife each year". There's little data showing the cause for each killing, the exact methods used and the reasons behind mistakes that lead to massive kills of animals that aren't targeted.

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