As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday, 18 September 2014

Snake capable of wiping out bird populations found on Pacific Island

A snake that can wipe out bird populations and short out electrical grids by climbing power poles has been found in Rota on the Northern Mariana Islands.

Biologists and government officials there tell the Pacific Daily News they're on high alert.

The 40-inch male brown tree snake was found in a trap earlier this month.

It doesn't just wipe out birds. It also allows the insect population to grow and limits the diversity of plants.

The snake's corpse was moved to Guam where researchers can determine how long it was in the trap.

Scientists are setting 200 more traps around the island. They don't know if the snake was alone or if there's an established population.

No comments:

Post a Comment