Conservation by the eradication of invasive species

[Wowbagger]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/10/she-kills-to-be-kind-the-mastermind-ecologist-eliminating-invasive-predators-aoe

I'm not sure if this violates the only rule set out in the top "sticky" of this board, but it certainly belongs here. There are some very impressive results achieved by the simple expedient of eradication the brown rat - the invasive species par excellence. Given that it's almost exactly 200 years since these nasty little sods first arrived in this country, one has to wonder what Britain would have been like without them. It seems that their presence has all but eradicated an earlier invasive species, the black rat, which came over with the Romans.

[Jaded]

Should we eradicate the most invasive species of them all?

[T42]

Don't worry, that's automatic.

[Wowbagger]

Yes, we are doing that pretty effectively.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Not surprising she's from NZ! Slightly different there as most of the animal and plant species they're now trying to eliminate were introduced deliberately.

[Wowbagger]

I was quite impressed with the results from Lundy Island.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I didn't realize puffins had been so much reduced there. As for the black rat v brown rat, in the article it seems to be the black rat they're targetting.

Should we eradicate the most invasive species of them all?

Probably a bacteria? Restricting elimination efforts to uninhabited islands and fenced sanctuaries sidesteps the human presence.

[ian]

The example is not really scalable outside small, geographically confined areas.

You could very effectively wipe out rats or any other invasive species with a gene drive. There's a concern that it would be too effective and there's the danger of unintended consequences. Like it or not, rats have been a part of many ecosystems for a long term, and merely removing them won't rewind time.

Mosquitoes and rats and the most studied gene drive models. For mosquitoes and the burden of malaria and the other diseases they're vectors for, there's a more pressing case.

(The most successful invasive species anywhere are viruses, of course.)

[T42]

I didn't realize puffins had been so much reduced there. As for the black rat v brown rat, in the article it seems to be the black rat they're targetting.

Should we eradicate the most invasive species of them all?

Probably a bacteria? Restricting elimination efforts to uninhabited islands and fenced sanctuaries sidesteps the human presence.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Angry_Rabbit

[rogerzilla]

Apparently the biggest problem with culling or eating grey squirrels is that people think they're cute.  Believe me, if they get into my loft, it will be all-out war.  You have to eliminate the whole colony before blocking up the point of entry, or they will do anything to break back in, once they regard it as their home too.  Legally, you cannot trap and release them somewhere else.  You must kill them or keep them as pets for the rest of their lives.

[Jaded]

Apparently the biggest problem with culling or eating grey squirrels is that people think they're cute.  Believe me, if they get into my loft, it will be all-out war.  You have to eliminate the whole colony before blocking up the point of entry, or they will do anything to break back in, once they regard it as their home too.  Legally, you cannot trap and release them somewhere else.  You must kill them or keep them as pets for the rest of their lives.

I think we all know what happens next here....

[rogerzilla]

One day they'll remake National Lampoon's Xmas Vacation.  Jurek just needs to age a bit more.