In 2008, scientists removed invasive rats from Alaska's Hawadax Island; 11 years later, seabirds returned and the kelp ecosystem recovered

• Image(s): CanvaAlaska's Hawadax Island, once known as Rat Island, offers one of conservation's clearest success stories.
• Invasive Norway rats, accidentally introduced by 18th-century shipwrecks and wartime shipping traffic, wiped out nesting seabirds and unravelled the island's rocky intertidal food web for two centuries.
• In 2008, scientists carried out a full eradication, removing every rat from the island.