[Taxacom] rats reappear on Lord Howe Island

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi All,
          I was reading about Dryococelus australis, the Lord Howe Island stick insect ("tree lobster") wiped out by rats by 1920.  But then a small population of them found in 2001 on Ball's Pyramid (20 km. offshore) and then a breeding program to save them.
          But plans for reintroduction on Lord Howe Island will presumably be delayed when some rats were recently found on the island despite a massive eradication project.   Below are two weblinks to articles this year about the rats, and a third weblink to a 2017 article about the stick insect once thought extinct.
                                         ---------------Ken Kinman


October 2021 (about some rats rediscovered):
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/26/survivors-or-intruders-rats-found-on-lord-howe-island-despite-22000-traps-and-40-tonnes-of-bait

February 2021 (no rats seen):  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-02/lord-howe-island-recovers-from-rat-infestation/13111770

October 2017 (about the stick insect):
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-10-06/extinct-lord-howe-stick-insect-back-from-dead/8984902
[https://www.abc.net.au/cm/rimage/9010392-16x9-large.jpg?v=2]<https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-10-06/extinct-lord-howe-stick-insect-back-from-dead/8984902>
Lord Howe tree lobster officially back from dead as island pushes ahead with poison program - Science News - ABC News<https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-10-06/extinct-lord-howe-stick-insect-back-from-dead/8984902>
DNA has verified that a captive population of stick insect is genetically the same as the "extinct" Lord Howe Island species, as the island prepares for a controversial pest eradication program.
www.abc.net.au