Recently, some shocking photos on the Internet have aroused heated discussion among netizens.
Yes, these poor birds with bloody wounds are the seabirds of Gough Island, and the culprit is the rats.
According to the latest reports, rats on the island are attacking the rare species albatross and feeding on birds, causing the albatross population to continue to decline and become endangered.
What is a mouse?
In the eyes of the editor, the rat is simply an invincible invader.
Although it loves to eat grain nuts, it is definitely a typical omnivore, eating everything, including meat, and when he was a child, the bacon at home was often stolen by rats.
Super reproductive ability, is the fastest breeding mammal, super survivability of the species, they are found all over the world.
The increase in the number of rat families is almost geometrically multiplied, and it can be said that rats are species that we humans cannot exterminate.
To be honest, it is not surprising to hear the news that rats eat live birds, because folklore is full of legends of rats, what nibbles on infants that are still swaddling, rats that are unusually large even eat people, and so on.
Humans brought rats into Gough Island, which are now twice the size of domestic rats, and are flooded.
The rats in this news are from Gove Island.
Gough Island, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, is the world's largest habitat for seabirds and the most spectacular landscape in the sea, with 2 rare species of birds and 12 endemic plants, and of course, alien invading rats.
The rats of Gough Island, which followed the seal hunters who first discovered the island, initially had little effect on seabird populations, but after adapting to the new habitat, the rats became larger, and now the Gough Island rats are twice the size of the average house mouse, with a stronger bite force.
The seabirds on Gough Island have always been threatened by foreign invaders, and rats are just one of them, including cats and pigs. When people realized that this had seriously affected the number of seabirds, they began to implement the "Island Rehabilitation Program", but this operation only eliminated other invasive alien species, except for rats that were still rampant, and without the threat of cats, rats became more serious.
Rats eating live birds is not the first time it has happened.
In 2004, researchers first spotted rats attacking seabird chicks, and in some of the island's key seabird colonies, giant rats killed and ate their young birds.
Now the situation is even worse, and the slaughter of rats has not stopped, and adult birds have begun to eat.
In 2017 and 2018, the Bird Conservation Society found 3 injured adult seabirds and 23 suspected to have died from rat attacks on adult seabird wreckage.
From recent surveys, rats have begun to attack adult birds that are more than 300 times larger than themselves, and the island's 2 critically endangered albatrosses are also in its diet, extremely rampant.
Is the huge albatross a kind parent, or a silly bird?
In terms of body size, the albatross is definitely a big bird, with a body length of 110cm and a wingspan of up to 3.5m, such a large bird, still unable to save itself and protect its eggs, and even a little indifferent.
Knowing that they are the food of rats, some enthusiastic seabird parents let the rats nibble on their own flesh while firmly incubating eggs, in order to protect the young birds at the expense of themselves, or are they really just stupid?
Birds barely respond in any self-defense, and the scientists' explanation is that they haven't evolved a response to an attack.
Rat attacks are particularly severe in winter.
When their food, such as insects and plants, has been exhausted, they become so desperate that they can only eat birds.
Sometimes, multiple rats attack a bird, increasing the chances of the bird dying of trauma;
Sometimes, seabirds with small wounds may choose to stay on the island, heal themselves, and wait for the next attack;
Sometimes, seabird wounds are too large to heal and will slowly die;
And sometimes, in the face of such a threat, seabirds may choose to leave the nest, which is desperate for them, knowing that a pair of seabirds, usually raising only one chick per year, so they will not give up their chicks until they have to.
How did rats learn to prey such a huge prey?
Scientists believe that invasive rats and feral cats are the main threat to seabirds, and although rats can steal eggs or attack young birds, cases of rats attacking adult birds are extremely rare.
In general, rat attacks occur only when rats are the only predators introduced on the island.
Imagine that when hundreds of thousands of rats are eager to eat, and a few clever mice, boldly eat bird meat and survive, this behavior spreads among the rats, so that the bird-eating behavior becomes more and more intense.
It's like in the famine years, when someone took the lead in eating animal carcasses, and many people would follow suit.
At last
This is a very meaningful warning that although rats are small, their abilities cannot be underestimated.
During a famine in rats, they will eat animals hundreds of times larger than themselves, and if one day, will they also eat animals about the same size as humans? Are we also in its recipes? Ponder the horror.
More importantly, if these invading rats are not stopped, some of the rare species of seabirds will soon become extinct.
Next year, the Animal Protection Society is expected to begin taking steps to carry out the removal of rodents from the island.