Giant predatory mice brought to a remote South Atlantic island by 19th century sailors are killing two million birds a year including a critically endangered breed of albatross

The predatory mice are 'two or three times larger' than an average house mouse  

They eat away at the flesh of chicks, causing them to suffer for days before dying

The RSPB and Tristan da Cunha government hope eradicate the mice in 2020

By BRENDAN MCFADDEN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 20:43, 22 October 2018 | UPDATED: 20:46, 22 October 2018

Mice brought to a remote South Atlantic island by sailors in the 19th Century  which have evolved to two or three times the size of the average house mouse are killing up to £2million seabirds a year. 

The predatory mice attack in groups and eat away at the flesh of chicks - leaving them suffering for days before the open wounds lead to their deaths, the RSPB said  

The predatory mice attack in groups and eat away at the flesh of chicks - leaving them suffering for days before the open wounds lead to their deaths, the RSPB said 

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said the rodents have proliferated on uninhabited Gough Island, part of a British overseas territory, and are killing two million birds every year.

In order to protect the birds, the RSPB and Tristan da Cunha government are teaming up with international partners to eradicate mice from Gough Island in 2020, using two helicopters laden with poisonous pellets. 

Alex Bond, a researcher from the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement released by the RSPB: 'We knew there were large numbers of chicks and eggs being beaten each year but the actual number being taken by the mice is just staggering,'.

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