The Anguilla National Trust (ANT) is set to launch a programme to rid the Prickly Pear Cays of invasive brown rats, with the arrival of rat eradication team leader Ms Elizabeth “Biz” Bell of Wildlife Management Ltd.
This initiative is part of a larger collaborative initiative amongst the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the ANT, and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), that aims to restore and manage the Prickly Pear Marine Park and Cays. This three-year project is funded by the Darwin Plus initiative and is supported by the landowners and other stakeholders of the Prickly Pear Cays.
Prickly Pear East and West are one of the Caribbean’s key biodiversity areas, boasting seven species of nesting seabirds, including regionally significant populations of red-billed tropicbirds. It is also used by migratory wading birds and regionally endemic land birds. The Cays also provide important habitat for nesting hawksbill, green, and leatherback sea turtles. In 2015, a population of native and endangered Lesser Antillean iguanas were reintroduced to the island by the ANT in an effort to save the species from extinction. While there are no native mammals on the Cays, brown rats are abundant and threaten the island’s biodiversity, including its vegetation.
In 2017, an operational planning exercise was conducted on the island by Dr. Jenny Daltry of FFI, Biz Bell, and ANT staff and volunteers. The operational plan outlined the type of bait and bait stations that would be most appropriate for the eradication initiative as well the monitoring methods that would be used to ensure that the eradication would be successful.
Following the completion of the operational plan, tracks were cut on a northwest-southeast angle every 40 metres across the island through dense dry forest and scrubland vegetation. This two-month phase of the project was completed last week by a team of eight members led by Mr. Khaloni Richardson of North Valley. The next phase of the project – the actual eradication initiative – will commence on 3 April and will include a rotating team of individuals from Anguilla as well as visiting volunteers from St. Barths and Antigua. This phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of May 2018.
Individuals who may be interested in harvesting crabs from either Prickly Pear East or West are cautioned that no crabs should be removed for at least six months because of the baiting process. Crabs are known to consume the bait although they are immune to its poisons. The ANT also cautions individuals from consuming fish from the cays’ nearshores due to the possibility of bait being washed into the water during heavy rains. Significant precautions are being taken to limit runoff of bait into coastal waters but the risk always remains, no matter how small.
In support of this project, over 1000 plastic bottles were donated to the ANT by individuals from across the island and are now being used as the temporary rat bait stations. Bait was donated to the project by Syngenta through FFI and the Antigua-based Environmental Awareness Group while permanent bait stations have been donated by Bell Laboratories.
For more information about the Prickly Pear Marine Park management project or the rat eradication initiative, please contact the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources at fisheriesmr@gov.ai or the Anguilla National Trust at 497 5297 or antadmin@anguillanet.com.
– Contributed
