However, there was evidence that the rats fed on the seabirds’ eggs and chicks, having a detrimental impact on their breeding success. The Shiants, a remote cluster of islands five miles east of the Isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, is one of the most important seabird breeding colonies in Europe, hosting around 100,000 pairs of nesting seabirds each year. It is hoped that Manx shearwaters and storm petrels will begin to nest on the islands as well.
It is anticipated that seabirds such as puffins, razorbills, and guillemots will see improved breeding successes which could eventually support population increases in these long lived seabirds breeding on the Shiants. It has been a huge success and played an important role in developing future island restoration and biosecurity work in the UK.Īnother key part of the project is a programme of research monitoring the response of the ecosystem to the removal of rats. Over the last four years the project has focused on making the islands a safe place for seabirds to raise their chicks by removing the invasive, non-native black rats that were found there. It has benefited from the help of many volunteers, and significant private donations. The EU LIFE+ funded Shiants seabird recovery project started in 2014 and is a partnership between the Nicolson family, custodians of the islands for three generations, Scottish Natural Heritage and RSPB Scotland. This means that none has been recorded there for two years, the internationally agreed criterion for rat-free status.
A month-long intensive monitoring check in February found no sign of rats. The Shiant Isles have been officially declared rat-free, thanks to a four-year partnership project to restore them as a secure haven for nesting seabirds.
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