Tristan : Administrator Sets the Record Straight About Albatross Carnage
Submitted by Tristan Times (Juanita Brock) 25.07.2005 (Current Article)
Officials on Tristan have not answered enquiries about an emerging story from Gough Island about Albatross carnage.
Photo (c) J. Brock (FINN) Gonies are what Islanders call Tristan Albatross. This one, a juvenile, was the first to land on Tristan da Cunha for 50 years.
TRISTAN CAUTIOUS ABOUT ALBATROSS CARNAGE
By J. Brock (SARTMA-TdC)
The Tristan Albatross "Gony" that landed on Tristan Da Cunha in March of 2004. This juvenile was the first to land in 50 years.
Officials on Tristan have not answered enquiries about an emerging story from Gough Island about Albatross carnage. The silence is not deliberate but measured to make sure they get the facts right about what is really happening on the Island. Supposedly Biologists Ron Wanless and Angela Angel, working for the Percy FitzPatrick Foundation for African Ornithology spent a year on Gough Island while pinpointing the cause of an extremely high mortality among Tristan Albatross chicks.
It is not known at this time whether the scientists showed anyone on Tristan Da Cunha their findings prior to their report at the Society for Conservation Biology in Brazil. As Tristan da Cunha has administrative responsibility for Gough Island, permission from Tristan’s government had to be sought prior to landing on the island and doing any research. It would be inconceivable for any researcher not to report back to the government that gave them permission to carry out their work.
What the scientists found and filmed was horrific, as they detailed on film the attacks of introduced mice on helpless Albatross chicks.
Ron Wanless told Nature Magazine, "It was carnage. Chicks half alive, with massive gaping wounds and guts hanging out,"
According to the report in Nature Magazine the scientists believe that the behaviour was learned and rare in the wild. What is known is that once any species learns a behaviour it is passed on to future generations.
It is known that these birds have had no land predators and no defensive response against attacks by mice. If the Tristan Albatross are to survive, one must be learned and apparently very quickly.
Though he mice were inadvertently introduced on Gough, no one can pinpoint when this happened, or why they decided to eat Albatross chicks. Articles written in the world’s press estimate the numbers of Tristan Albatross to be anywhere from 9,000 to 100,000 animals. The figures don’t add up but to give the benefit of the doubt, Tristan Times will await a response from the Island before writing anything further.
The Response is as follows:
Hi Juanita
Many thanks for this. But I don't read this article as a criticism. Apart from the misleading reference to over a million birds being 'taken out' each year (the actual projections are for example that the current 1.8m breeding pairs of Petrels could reduce by 50% over the next sixty years if this low breeding rate caused by mice attacks is combined with continuing high mortality of adults), the article is a useful effort by RSPB to raise awareness.
We have been supporting them since a first survey on Gough in 2002 suggested that mice might be attacking chicks, and further studies confirmed this in 2004. As the article suggests, we have obtained UK Govt funds of £62k for an expert survey/feasibility study on possible rodent eradication. This could be very costly, so it is good that RSPB - who have a strong track record of fund raising - are making a start with the publicity campaign.
Mike Hentley
Administrator
Tristan da Cunha
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