Wildlife

Conservation Backfires

Conservationists in Tasmania may be ruing the decision to introduce endangered Tasmanian devils to a small island, after a new survey revealed that the alien invaders have wiped out the entire colony of little penguins living there.

Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), the world’s largest carnivorous marsupials, were introduced to Maria Island — a 45-square-mile (116 square kilometers) island east of Tasmania in 2012. The government hoped to create a new devil population to prevent the species from being wiped out by a deadly disease that has decimated their numbers in Tasmania.

However, the introduction of one species has meant the end of another: The new DPIPWE survey showed that the introduction of devils to the island wiped out 3,000 breeding pairs of little penguins (Eudyptula minor) living on the island.

Mice Overrun Prison

The vast mouse plague that has ravaged Australian agriculture and wildlife for more than a year has also infested a New South Wales prison so badly that the entire prison population and staff had to be evacuated to other facilities.

The rodents gnawed through wiring and ceiling panels, and littered the prison with their dead carcasses. “The mice start decaying, and then the next problem is mites, and we just don’t want to expose staff and prisoners to anything that could cause harm to their health,” said Peter Severin, commissioner of the state’s corrective services department.

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