In 2018, Antipodes Island was declared free of invasive mice; eight years later, scientists reported ground beetle numbers 40 times higher, with rove beetles up more than 20-fold after predator removal
- Representative imageWhen conservation teams confirmed in 2018 that invasive house mice had been removed from Antipodes Island, it marked the end of one of New Zealand’s most ambitious island restoration efforts.
- The remote subantarctic island had carried mice for more than a century, and their appetite for insects, seeds, plants and occasionally bird eggs had quietly reshaped the ecosystem.
- Eight years on, scientists have reported that ground beetle numbers are now about 40 times higher than before the mice were removed, while rove beetles have increased more than twentyfold.
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- Representative imageWhen conservation teams confirmed in 2018 that invasive house mice had been removed from Antipodes Island, it marked the end of one of New Zealand’s most ambitious island restoration efforts.
- The remote subantarctic island had carried mice for more than a century, and their appetite for insects, seeds, plants and occasionally bird eggs had quietly reshaped the ecosystem.
- Eight years on, scientists have reported that ground beetle numbers are now about 40 times higher than before the mice were removed, while rove beetles have increased more than twentyfold.
Sources: Times of India