Eradicating Rats on Remote Islands - James Russell

Invasive rodents are so difficult for delicate ecosystems to survive because they introduce a quickly-reproducing drain on biodiversity that often doesn’t have any predators to discourage their growth. National Geographic grantee James Russell has studied ways that humans can help return the balance to fragile islands in the the Pacific Ocean that have had rodents rampantly eating seabirds’ eggs. Poisons thrown from helicopters that target mice by looking like foods they would eat, like grains, have a very high success rate in ridding islands of pests. But Russell warns that since rats reproduce so quickly, they must remove 100% of the rodents, otherwise they will quickly overrun the islands again.