Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Project — Rabbit, Rat & Mouse Removal (Australia)

Feral cats on Macquarie Island were eradicated in 1995-2000 without first controlling the island's rabbits. Removing the cats' main prey-competitor let the rabbit population explode through 2000-2007, stripping vegetation and triggering slope erosion and landslides that killed hundreds of king penguins — a sequencing error criticised at the time by IUCN and Birds Australia.

The 2007-2014 Macquarie Island Pest Eradication Project (MIPEP), run by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service with the Australian Antarctic Division and Australian/Tasmanian government funding (reported at AUD 24-24.6 million, including a AUD 100,000 donation from WWF and Peregrine Adventures), released RHDV calicivirus in February 2011 ahead of two aerial baiting rounds (250 tonnes of 0.002% brodifacoum cereal bait) completed by June 2011, followed by a 13-month ground-hunting phase using 12 handlers and 11 dogs. Eradication was declared successful in April 2014 after 2.5 years with no pest detections across the 12,785-hectare island.

Vegetation biomass increased 5-10x by 2013 compared with 2011 levels. A decade-later government survey (2024) found dense tussock and megaherb regrowth on previously denuded slopes, reduced erosion, and albatrosses nesting on newly stabilised ground; grey and blue petrel numbers trended positively.

The aerial baiting itself killed an estimated 2,400-2,500 native birds (roughly 950-990 kelp gulls and 760 giant petrels), a toll that produced a documented 25-30% fall in giant petrel breeding numbers and around 50% at some monitored skua sites, with limited recovery signal in the mid-2010s follow-up study. Cost figures vary by source and date (AUD 24-24.6 million agreed funding versus roughly USD 16.2 million final cost cited by one outlet).

Read more: https://www.antarctica.gov.au/magazine/issue-26-june-2014/science/pests-eradicated-from-macquarie-island/

Read the full analysis: https://www.antarctica.gov.au/magazine/issue-26-june-2014/science/pests-eradicated-from-macquarie-island/