Carniverous Mice Plague threatens island*

By Glenn Cordingley

April 20, 2007 05:24pm
Article from: AAP

INFRA-red footage showing a "superbreed" of giant flesh-eating house
mice chewing into an albatross chick has been used as a stark warning of
what awaits pest-infested Macquarie Island.

Tasmanian Conservation Trust (TCT) spokesman Alistair Graham said the
rodents on British-controlled Gough Island off South Africa in the South
Atlantic had evolved to become predators, growing to three times their
normal size.

“The evidence that normal house mice on Gough Island have evolved to
become predators gives us very serious concern the same thing is
happening on Macquarie Island,” he said.

More than 100,000 grazing rabbits and plagues of rats and mice are
threatening endangered species on World Heritage-listed Macquarie
Island, 1500km southeast of Tasmania.

Rabbits are devastating the island's indigenous fauna, causing landslips
to crash into penguin rookeries and destroy albatross breeding sites.
Exploding rat and mice numbers are also causing huge concern.

The island is considered part of Tasmania, but the federal government
has responsibility for World Heritage areas.

A political row has erupted over who will pay for its pest eradication
program estimated at $16.5 million.

The Federal Government has offered to pay half, but the State Government
is refusing to pay a cent, saying the Commonwealth has a massive budget
surplus.

The footage was released today by the TCT and the Tasmanian Greens.

Mr Graham said the time had come for the Lennon Labor Government to hand
the island over to the Commonwealth before an “international
environmental catastrophe” takes place.

“It is obvious that Tasmania neither has the means or the will to manage
this remote tiny speck and it would be much better off if it were in the
hands of the Federal Government,” he said.

“We are really hoping that the Tasmanian Government, in recognition of
the serious plight of these animals, will do the honourable thing and
agree to hand over the island to the Federal Government.”

Mr Graham said it was “simply not politically feasible” to expect the
Federal Government to pay 100 per cent of the cost when the State
Government has a major responsibility.

“By tradition and convention the Federal Government will offer a
portion, usually 50-50...but they always expect the State Government to
pay something in recognition it is state responsibility, which is true
of Macquarie Island.”

Mr Graham said that the study on Gough Island was undertaken because of
declining numbers of the endangered Trisan albatrosses.

“What we have discovered was quite shocking,” he said.

“This type of thing has been going on under the noses of researchers for
some time and it wasn't until infra-red night footage set-up with remote
control cameras that it was discovered.”

He said the albatross chicks on Gough Island had no behavioural response
to mice attacks and it was simply “death by 1000 cuts” for the fledgling
species.