3/3/2015 Bald eagles succumb to poison in rat eradication on Alaskan island - Scientific American

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Bald eagles succumb to poison in rateradication on Alaskan islandJuly1,2009 | ByBrendanBorrell

Last month we reported on bald eaglesand other birds found dead after a rateradication project in Alaskas AleutianIslands. The National Wildlife HealthCenter in Madison, Wis., has confirmedthat the birds were casualties ofbrodifacoum, the poison used in baitscattered around Rat Island by helicopter.

Every one of the liver samples testedpositive for brodifacoum, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods told ScientificAmerican. Fish and Wildlifelaw enforcement agents are investigating whether there were any egregious errors andto assess that the poison drop was conducted according to an approved protocol,Woods said.

For two centuries, invasive rats on the island have ravaged populations of ground-nesting seabirds. In September, Island Conservation, the Nature Conservancy, and theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped rat poison from helicopters after anenvironmental assessment concluded birds were unlikely to be harmed because therodents would perish in their burrows.

A recent census found puffins and other seabirds were returning to nest on the islandin the absence of rats. But wildlife workers also discovered corpses from 43 baldeagles, 213 glaucous-winged gulls, and several other species. The scientists believegulls may have consumed the poison cakes and were then preyed upon by eagles.

The wildlife lab reports that two bald eagles, two glaucous-winged gulls, one peregrinefalcon, and one rock sandpiper all tested positive for the poison. The team plans toanalyze more tissue and soil samples. Another team will return to the island in earlyAugust to look for any further mortality.

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3/3/2015 Bald eagles succumb to poison in rat eradication on Alaskan island - Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post/bald-eagles-succumb-to-poison-in-ra-2009-07-01/?print=true 2/4

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Conservationists still hope to eradicate rats from other islands in the Aleutian chain,but they may have to modify their approach. When we get all the information,Woods says, we will attempt to figure out what we can do better.

ImageofbaldeaglecourtesyAlaskanDudeviaFlickr

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3/3/2015 Bald eagles succumb to poison in rat eradication on Alaskan island - Scientific American

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