Potential for primary poisoning of a critically endangered endemic land bird during rodent eradication operations at Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha
Eradicating introduced rodents from islands restores these communities, but operations must mitigate bait uptake by non-target species to ensure adequate bait coverage, and minimize mortality of non-target species. Ingestion of toxic bait is a recognised risk for scavenging birds, but is also a conc...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | unknown |
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PeerJ
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1744v2 https://peerj.com/preprints/1744v2.pdf https://peerj.com/preprints/1744v2.xml https://peerj.com/preprints/1744v2.html |
| Summary: | Eradicating introduced rodents from islands restores these communities, but operations must mitigate bait uptake by non-target species to ensure adequate bait coverage, and minimize mortality of non-target species. Ingestion of toxic bait is a recognised risk for scavenging birds, but is also a concern for generalist feeders. Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha, in the South Atlantic Ocean, has introduced house mice ( Mus musculus ) that negatively affect the island ecosystem. It is also home to the endemic globally threatened Gough bunting ( Rowettia goughensis ), a generalist that may be affected by primary poisoning. We presented 26 wild individuals with non-toxic bait pellets and observed their reactions for up to 30 min, or until they flew away. While 23% of Gough buntings did not react to bait pellets, 77% showed some level of interest. Generalist feeders, such as Gough bunting, may also be at risk of primary poisoning during rodent eradication operations. |
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