In 1959, several fishermen in the Coron Islands left three goats, one male and two female, on the island. Unexpectedly, such a seemingly harmless move would bring a huge disaster to the entire Colon Islands.
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The Coron archipelago is a magical land that attracts tourists and scientists alike with its unique geological structure, climate and ecology.
This archipelago formed by the eruption of an undersea volcano is home to primeval forests, volcanic landscapes, and a variety of rare flora and fauna, known as the "Museum of Ecological Evolution", and is home to a variety of creatures, some of which are difficult to find elsewhere.
Because of the topography, the island has not been visited for a long time, and it is unknown how many animals live here, but since the appearance of the three lambs, this peace has been broken.
A few years ago, due to an accident, the three sheep were left on the island, and at first no one cared, but soon, things took a turn.
As the minutes passed, these humble creatures quickly developed into a huge team, from a few at first, to thousands, tens of thousands, and 200,000 later, and in just 10 years, the number of goats swelled at an astonishing rate.
The once peaceful land was stirred up by foreign invaders, and sheep were everywhere, whether it was shrubs, weeds, or trees, all of which were eaten by them, which caused unprecedented damage to the ecology of the entire island.
Recognizing the magnitude of the endangered nature of many rare plants and the extinction of many of the wildlife that depend on them due to disruptions in the food chain, the Ecuadorian government has set out to address the ecological catastrophe.
Because the number of sheep was too large for the islanders to cope with alone, the army was used in order to minimize the number of sheep.
However, the complex topography of the Coron Islands, and their flexible evasion capabilities, have greatly reduced the military's combat effectiveness, because with the deterrence of helicopters, the goats have also become alert, and they have begun to use the complex terrain of the islands to evade, which makes the cleanup much more difficult.
To address the problem, the Japanese government adopted a more precise strategy, sending a small search team and searching various hidden locations on the island.
The search team is made up of veteran hunters and special forces members who know the island's terrain well and can navigate steep mountains and jungles freely.
But even so, the goats show amazing vitality, not only can they gain a foothold on the cliffs, they can quickly navigate the dense jungle, and they can also evade hunting with the help of natural caves, which are almost like blending with the island, and can use the terrain to cover themselves.
Increasing pressure from the government and military to try to use more technological tools, such as thermal detectors to track the heat of sheep and send drones to monitor them in the air, has improved the efficiency of the search to some extent, but the flexibility of the flock still poses a huge challenge to the clean-up effort.
After rounds of hunting, although some sheep were successfully eliminated, a large number of sheep escaped, and realizing that the army alone could not completely solve the problem, they turned to ecologists and zoologists for help to find a more scientific and humane way to reduce the number of goats.
After many arguments and researches, the government hired a number of authoritative figures in the field of animal behavior, and after in-depth discussions and field investigations, they came up with the idea of "Infernal Affairs".
One of the most important was to get 900 specially trained females into the enemy camp, all equipped with sophisticated GPS, so that they could be observed at all times to ensure that they would not get lost or be recognized, and soon the clever lambs gained the trust of the goats and smoothly integrated into the flock.
Armed with accurate information about the ewes, the search team was able to develop a more scientific hunting plan and carry out targeted hunting, until 2006, when the last wild goat was captured on the island of Coron, and the major ecological disaster caused by the goats was declared to be over.
The ecological catastrophe caused by the goats has been prevented, the damaged ecosystems are gradually recovering, the plants are thriving, and some endangered species are gradually increasing, and the island is revitalized to show its beauty and vitality.
I would also like to remind everyone here that when traveling, you must not leave the animals and plants you bring locally, nor can you buy animals and plants from abroad, otherwise it is likely to be a tragedy like a goat, but fortunately, the country's security department has done a good job in this regard.
Source: Global Anecdote "This island once introduced 3 sheep, but it turned out to be 250,000, and the island was eaten by sheep!" 2018-11-16
