Book of Hope Case Study: Macquarie Island restored through pest eradication

Soon after the discovery of sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island in 1810, its rich seal and penguin stocks were subject to massive exploitation, Human activity introduced mammals to Macquarie Island during the 19th Century, and they quickly became established. From the 1950s it was recognised that the introduced pests – rabbits, ship rats, mice and cats – were seriously impacting native vegetation and fauna. The management goal was to eradicate mammalian pests in order to protect many of the island’s threatened and declining plant and animal species.