A team on South Georgia has successfully completed the world's largest rodent eradication in an effort to rid the British territory of millions of rats and mice.

 

Against the backdrop of an approaching Antarctic winter between February and May, three helicopters encountered perilous flying conditions while peppering the southern Atlantic island with 183 tonnes of the poison Brodifacoum. The team of 25 baited an area of 224 sq miles (580 sq km).

 

The project director, Prof Tony Martin, said the team, managed by the Dundee-based South Georgia Heritage Trust, aimed to return the 104 mile (167 km) long island to the millions of seabirds wiped out by rats and mice introduced by 19th- and 20th-century whalers and sealers.

 

Many of the island's animals remain unaffected by the rat population. Huge populations of seals and penguins attract thousands of cruise ship passengers every year.

 

However others, such as the endemic South Georgia pippit and South Georgia pintail, were clinging to existence "by their claws". The storm petrel, Antarctic prion and cape petrel had been driven away from the vital breeding grounds. Every breeding season a single rat would eat hundreds of seabird chicks.

 

The successful poison drops marked the second phase of a three stage project.

 

The first stage took place in 2011. The South Georgia heritage trustee Howard Pearce said it appeared this phase had been successful, lending confidence to the ongoing efforts of the team. The third stage of the project is planned for 2015

 

If the rats are successfully eradicated from the entire island, it would take an enormous effort to keep the island secure from re-infestation. Cruise and supply ships are already banned from tying up to the island's docks. The greatest danger comes from fishing boats becoming wrecked on the island's storm-broken shore.