IT HAS BEEN DONE ON LUNDY (SIZE: 4.45km²), Ruapuke Island (16km²) and South Georgia (3,500km²), but now conservationists want to eliminate non-native, invasive predators from much, much larger sites: New Zealand’s North (114,000km²) and South (150,000km²) Islands.
No one denies that it is an admirable ambition because alien, mainly European mammals have had a devastating impact on New Zealand’s native fauna, with an estimated 25–30 bird extinctions, plus losses of reptiles, amphibians and insects.
So when the government in Wellington announced it would aim to eradicate three species of rat, as well as stoats, weasels, ferrets and brush-tailed possums, the entire world took notice. It was bold and aspirational – but could it be done? And was it actually a good idea?
“If we don’t make every effort to preserve…