03-30-2009, 04:27 AM
Be careful what one wishes for, an Australian island freed of cats well........
It took 15 years, a half-million Australian dollars and countless rounds of ammunition (the cats were mostly shot to death), but by 2000 Macquarie Island was deemed to be “cat free.”
Unfortunately, the rabbit disease didn’t reach the same level of finality as the cat hunt (the bunnies are becoming increasingly immune to myxomatosis), and there are now an estimated 130,000 rabbits that are wreaking havoc on the island’s vegetation. Rats and mice are also celebrating their new-found freedom by destroying flowers to get at the seeds.
The disappearance of the fauna and other ‘megaherb’ vegetation now has environmentalists concerned about the Royal Penguins, which are now more vulnerable to predators thanks to their evaporating cover.
Now, scientists and biologists have reached the conclusion that the removal of the cats may have been a bad idea.......
http://www.examiner.com/x-662-Strange-Ne...00-rabbits
mella l
It took 15 years, a half-million Australian dollars and countless rounds of ammunition (the cats were mostly shot to death), but by 2000 Macquarie Island was deemed to be “cat free.”
Unfortunately, the rabbit disease didn’t reach the same level of finality as the cat hunt (the bunnies are becoming increasingly immune to myxomatosis), and there are now an estimated 130,000 rabbits that are wreaking havoc on the island’s vegetation. Rats and mice are also celebrating their new-found freedom by destroying flowers to get at the seeds.
The disappearance of the fauna and other ‘megaherb’ vegetation now has environmentalists concerned about the Royal Penguins, which are now more vulnerable to predators thanks to their evaporating cover.
Now, scientists and biologists have reached the conclusion that the removal of the cats may have been a bad idea.......
http://www.examiner.com/x-662-Strange-Ne...00-rabbits
mella l
mella l
Art and Science
bytheSEA
Art and Science
bytheSEA