Lord Howe Island Rodent Eradication Programme : A Rat Detection Dog and Handlers
Conservation Biodiversity Act in action.
Lord Howe Island’s isolation and its varied landscape are home to many unique and endemic species, including 241 species of indigenous plants, almost 50% of which are found nowhere else in the world, 207 species of bird, including the endangered Lord Howe Island Woodhen, and 1,600 terrestrial insect species, including the world’s rarest insect, the Lord Howe Island Phasmid.
The Lord Howe Island Board’s overarching environmental vision is to protect the island’s World Heritage values, rich biodiversity and threatened species. To achieve this the LHI Board is currently delivering the Protecting Paradise Program, an island-wide holistic ecological restoration program underpinned by the LHI Biodiversity Management Plan.
At its core, the Protecting Paradise Program aims to support the removal of destructive invasive species, namely rodents and noxious weeds, whilst maintain protection of threatened species by establishing a sustainable and robust bio security system to prevent the introduction and establishment of invasive species.
The presence of exotic rodents on islands (rats arrived from a shipwreck in 1918) is one of the greatest causes of species extinction in the world. Rats have already been implicated in the extinction, on Lord Howe Island, of five endemic bird species, at least 13 species of endemic invertebrates, and two plant species. Rodents are also a recognised threat to at least 13 other bird species, 2 reptiles, 51 plant species, 12 vegetation communities, and 7 species of threatened invertebrates on the Island. Seven of these species are listed as “Critically Endangered” under NSW and Commonwealth legislation.
These programs complement significant achievements to date including the eradication of cats and pigs in the 1980’s, feral goats in 1999, and Myrtle Rust in 2018, a world-first.
After more than 15 years of detailed research and planning, final implementation of the Rodent Eradication Project (REP) is almost complete.
Then in April 2021, a local woman spotted two adult rats near the cemetery at Ned's Beach. Subsequently they were flushed out by a rat detection dog, caught and killed on Lord Howe Island. The pair were a male and a pregnant female.
The preliminary view was that the rats were likely an incursion from the mainland, such as by cargo, rather than the survivors of the initial eradication. Genetic testing to investigate the issue was undertaken.
As a precaution, a “strategic response strategy” has resumed, involving rat detection dogs, the placement of monitoring and baiting stations, and “targeted inspections of high facilities”. Regular visits of pairs of conservation employees accompanied by a rat detection dog is underway - hoping for 2 years with no rat detected. It alsoinvolves strict biosecurity arrangements to keep the risk of new rodents arriving by boat or plane “as close to zero as possible”. Passengers disembaking from aircraft arriving at Lord Howe Island have their first encounter with the program, as they are approached by a rat detection dog which sniffs their hand luggage before reaching the terminal building.
Overall, the eradication program has been a vast effort that involved 22,000 lockable traps being placed around the island and pellets of rat poison being dropped by helicopter in inaccessible areas. At the start of the program in 2019 Lord Howe Island had an estimated rodent population of 300,000 rats and mice – roughly 1,000 rodents for each of the island’s 350 residents.
Mice first appeared on the island in 1850, with rats following in 1918 after escaping from a ship that sank off the coast. They were responsible for driving several native species extinct, including five land birds, 13 invertebrates and two plant species. Next on the list was the dwindling population of the flightless Lord Howe woodhen, which thanks to this eradication program has now recovered.
Lord Howe Island Rodent Eradication Programme : A Rat Detection Dog and Handlers
Conservation Biodiversity Act in action.
Lord Howe Island’s isolation and its varied landscape are home to many unique and endemic species, including 241 species of indigenous plants, almost 50% of which are found nowhere else in the world, 207 species of bird, including the endangered Lord Howe Island Woodhen, and 1,600 terrestrial insect species, including the world’s rarest insect, the Lord Howe Island Phasmid.
The Lord Howe Island Board’s overarching environmental vision is to protect the island’s World Heritage values, rich biodiversity and threatened species. To achieve this the LHI Board is currently delivering the Protecting Paradise Program, an island-wide holistic ecological restoration program underpinned by the LHI Biodiversity Management Plan.
At its core, the Protecting Paradise Program aims to support the removal of destructive invasive species, namely rodents and noxious weeds, whilst maintain protection of threatened species by establishing a sustainable and robust bio security system to prevent the introduction and establishment of invasive species.
The presence of exotic rodents on islands (rats arrived from a shipwreck in 1918) is one of the greatest causes of species extinction in the world. Rats have already been implicated in the extinction, on Lord Howe Island, of five endemic bird species, at least 13 species of endemic invertebrates, and two plant species. Rodents are also a recognised threat to at least 13 other bird species, 2 reptiles, 51 plant species, 12 vegetation communities, and 7 species of threatened invertebrates on the Island. Seven of these species are listed as “Critically Endangered” under NSW and Commonwealth legislation.
These programs complement significant achievements to date including the eradication of cats and pigs in the 1980’s, feral goats in 1999, and Myrtle Rust in 2018, a world-first.
After more than 15 years of detailed research and planning, final implementation of the Rodent Eradication Project (REP) is almost complete.
Then in April 2021, a local woman spotted two adult rats near the cemetery at Ned's Beach. Subsequently they were flushed out by a rat detection dog, caught and killed on Lord Howe Island. The pair were a male and a pregnant female.
The preliminary view was that the rats were likely an incursion from the mainland, such as by cargo, rather than the survivors of the initial eradication. Genetic testing to investigate the issue was undertaken.
As a precaution, a “strategic response strategy” has resumed, involving rat detection dogs, the placement of monitoring and baiting stations, and “targeted inspections of high facilities”. Regular visits of pairs of conservation employees accompanied by a rat detection dog is underway - hoping for 2 years with no rat detected. It alsoinvolves strict biosecurity arrangements to keep the risk of new rodents arriving by boat or plane “as close to zero as possible”. Passengers disembaking from aircraft arriving at Lord Howe Island have their first encounter with the program, as they are approached by a rat detection dog which sniffs their hand luggage before reaching the terminal building.
Overall, the eradication program has been a vast effort that involved 22,000 lockable traps being placed around the island and pellets of rat poison being dropped by helicopter in inaccessible areas. At the start of the program in 2019 Lord Howe Island had an estimated rodent population of 300,000 rats and mice – roughly 1,000 rodents for each of the island’s 350 residents.
Mice first appeared on the island in 1850, with rats following in 1918 after escaping from a ship that sank off the coast. They were responsible for driving several native species extinct, including five land birds, 13 invertebrates and two plant species. Next on the list was the dwindling population of the flightless Lord Howe woodhen, which thanks to this eradication program has now recovered.