The weekend newspaper had an article on Macquarie Island where cat
culling has allowed the Grey Petrel to start breeding for the first time
in 100 years and Blue Petrel have also returned. They caught 260 in
1996, not bad for an antarctic island with appalling weather.
The American site put on birding aus was interesting in that they were
catching the cats, some where in California I think, de-sexing them then
releasing at the catch site. They said the replacement rate from
breeding was faster than they could catch and eliminate them and that a
population that did not get replaced would eventually die out.
I saw in the Canberra CSIRO about 10 years ago a plan to release a
virus for rabbits that sterilised them then when that had taken hold one
that killed them with the idea that no one rabbit would be immune to
both. Then it would be designed for other ferals but I do not know what
happened to their research.
Cheers Chris
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