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.

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Siena Heights student researching endangered bird

ADRIAN -- A small, green and yellow songbird with a distinct white ring around its eye has become an important part of Siena Heights University student Olivia Smith’s life.

Called the Saipan bridled white-eye, the native of the Mariana Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean is an endangered species thanks to the brown tree snake, introduced to Guam shortly after World War II. The bird no longer exists on Guam and is found only on three other Mariana islands.

Smith, a biology major at Siena, has been studying the bridled white-eye at the Toledo Zoo, where nine of the 24 members of the species in captivity live. The goal is to help the birds successfully reproduce and raise offspring in captivity, a safeguard in case the species goes extinct in the wild.

“What I’m focusing on is the captive (bird) conservation effort,” Smith said.

Continued:  http://www.sooeveningnews.com/article/20121029/NEWS/121029481