Sunday, 19 April 2020

Boom Time Rats

Indigenous birds are being threatened in New Zealand because the Covid-19 lockdown is reportedly largely stopping all pest control (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/18/boom-time-for-new-zealands-rats-as-lockdown-gives-them-free-rein-in-cities-aoe). The pests are the usual introduced eutherian mammals (rats, mice and stoats), all of which will take birds (especially chicks) and eggs. Things are especially problematical as this was already set to be a boom year for pests because of last year's seed production (giving the reproduction of mice and rats fuel to burn).Rats and mice are real dangers for many island populations of birds, especially those species that are ground nesting. A lot of bird conservation in some areas comes down to rat catching.
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