Recently, a story about species introduction and bad outcomes made the news. I had to write about this, but for a different reason than you might expect.
This story seems to have appeared in hundreds of news outlets over the past few days:
- “Tasmanian devils devastate penguin population on Australian island“: “A project to preserve endangered Tasmanian devils on a small island has backfired after the predators killed seabirds in large numbers, a conservation group says.”
- “Tasmanian Devils Devastate Penguin Population on Australian Island“: “Every time humans have deliberately or accidentally introduced mammals to oceanic islands, there’s always been the same outcome … a catastrophic impact on one or more bird species.”
- “Tasmanian devils were given a safe, island home. Then the devils slaughtered 3K penguins.” “Although the loss of penguins is sad, it doesn’t come as a surprise to some.”
In 2012 a government initiative relocated 26 Tasmanian devils to Maria Island, a small island off the Tasmanian coast. The Tasmanian devil population has been in decline for years, due to a facial tumor cancer that spreads when they bite each other.
Unfortunately, Maria Island was also home to 3,000 little penguins — small, slow-walking birds that nest on land. (This species is actually called the “little penguin” as well as the “little blue penguin” and the “fairy penguin.”) With a new predator introduced, the penguins were all eaten. Continue reading “Disasters, Ugly and Cute”