“In 1959, voracious invasive rats were blamed for killing hundreds of white-faced storm petrels, a small seabird, on New Zealand’s Maria Island. In part to protect the birds, conservationists spread rat poison on the 2-hectare island, also known as Ruapuke. They didn’t intend to eradicate the rats but 5 years later were pleasantly surprised to discover that the rodents had disappeared, and the seabirds were safe.

Today, that pioneering effort and others have helped inspire a global push to eradicate rats from many other islands. Over the past half-century, people have made 820 attempts on 666 islands, according to a database maintained by the nonprofit Island Conservation. Some 88% have succeeded, says James Russell, a conservation biologist at the University of Auckland. As a result, boobies, shearwaters, petrels, and other seabirds have recovered, and island creatures from lizards to stick insects have reclaimed their homes.”

From Science.