Minus the Rodents, Lord Howe Wildlife Flourishes

Following the removal of more than 300,000 invasive rodents from Lord Howe Island, native birds, insects, and plants are recovering at a remarkable and unexpected rate.

Lord Howe Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its rare and iconic wildlife, hosted an estimated 300,000 invasive rodents until just a few months ago. Unintentionally introduced to Lord Howe via shipwrecks and travel, invasive rats and mice led to a wave of extinctions for native species including at least five land birds, 13 invertebrates, and two plants.

To restore the island, its native ecosystems, as well as Endangered and Critically Endangered wildlife, conservationists developed a plan to remove the invasive rodents, joining the more than 1200 invasive species removal projects that have been conducted on islands around the world. Now, only 15 months after the extensive operation, the island appears to be experiencing an “ecological renaissance,” with wildlife recovering at an unexpected rate.

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An example of the Lord Howe Island phasmid, the famed giant stick insect, once feared to have been driven to extinction by rodents. Credit: Wolter Peeters

Conservationists and community members are thrilled to see the ecosystem recover in the absence of invasive rodents, noting that never-before-seen fruits and flowers are blossoming from native plants. Meanwhile, native Black-winged Petrels and snail populations are thriving and across the island, rings a “chime of crickets.” Still, the most remarkable recovery is that of the endangered Lord Howe Woodhen, a mottled brown, flightless bird, whose population once hovered around 250 and has nearly doubled.

We thought that the rodents would have had some impact on the woodhens through competition for food — they both forage in the leaf litter and also [the rats] would probably eat some eggs and chicks,” noted Dr Terry O’Dwyer, senior scientist for the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.

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The woodhens, which are an endangered species, were isolated at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo during the rat eradication program. (Supplied: NSW Environment Minister’s Office)

The presence of invasive rodents was not only damaging for the native ecosystem, but also for the community of 350 people, as rodents precluded the community from growing food, and if left unaddressed impacts to wildlife would likely diminish tourism in the long-term. Despite initial concerns over the project, community members are happy to witness these striking results. Once conservationists are able to confirm the absence of rodents, Lord Howe Island will be one of only a handful of permanently inhabited islands to be free of all invasive vertebrates.

The success of the Lord Howe project points to the remarkable benefits that invasive species removal can have for island wildlife and communities. It also reflects the continuous progress island restoration experts are making to increase the scale of invasive species removal, looking to larger and more complex projects with the intention of preventing extinctions.  

Featured photo: A banded Lord Howe Woodhen. Credit: Duncan McCaskill Sources:
Australian Broadcasting Company
Sydney Morning Herald

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