Potential for primary poisoning of a critically endangered endemic land bird during rodent eradication operations at Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha

Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Sandy, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.1744v2
Subject Areas
Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, Toxicology, Zoology
Keywords
Gough Island, invasive species, rodent eradication, non-target mortality
Copyright
© 2016 Bond et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Bond AL, Risi MM, Jones CW, Ryan PG. 2016. Potential for primary poisoning of a critically endangered endemic land bird during rodent eradication operations at Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha. PeerJ PrePrints 4:e1744v2

Abstract

Eradicating introduced rodents from islands restores these communities, but operations must mitigate bait uptake by non-target species to ensure adequate bait coverage, and minimize mortality of non-target species. Ingestion of toxic bait is a recognised risk for scavenging birds, but is also a concern for generalist feeders. Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha, in the South Atlantic Ocean, has introduced house mice (Mus musculus) that negatively affect the island ecosystem. It is also home to the endemic globally threatened Gough bunting (Rowettia goughensis), a generalist that may be affected by primary poisoning. We presented 26 wild individuals with non-toxic bait pellets and observed their reactions for up to 30 min, or until they flew away. While 23% of Gough buntings did not react to bait pellets, 77% showed some level of interest. Generalist feeders, such as Gough bunting, may also be at risk of primary poisoning during rodent eradication operations.

Author Comment

This was a small field trial for operational requirements, and is not currently planned for journal submission. This is the definitive version. Version 2 corrects author contact information in the text.