Tree Lobster: Back from the Dead

After believing that the species Dryococelus australis, also known as the tree lobster, went extinct after rats had been accidentally released onto Australia's Lord Howe Island after a steamship capsized researchers have found a second variation of the tree lobster on Ball's Pyramid. They now hope that the can reintroduce the tree lobster to Lord Howe Island once the rat problem on the island has been dealt with. They plan to deal with the rats by dropping cereal with rat poison onto the island sometime in 2018. My concern with this is that they are taking a risk by placing poisoned cereal on the island because there is a chance that not just rats will eat the cereal, native animals such as the birds that inhabit the island might become tempted to eat the cereal. It would be great to see a once native species reintroduced to the island, but I just hope they know what they are doing.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/science/lord-howe-stick-insect-tree-lobster.html

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 1, 2017 at 4:53 AM

    I believe this idea is not smart because other animals could eat the cereal and could die. We would mess up the food chain on the island. We also don't know what kind of affects we will have on the islands ecosystem.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 1, 2017 at 4:53 AM

    I believe this idea is not smart because other animals could eat the cereal and could die. We would mess up the food chain on the island. We also don't know what kind of affects we will have on the islands ecosystem.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 1, 2017 at 9:11 AM

    I agree that the idea to get rid of the rats is wrong. They should take into consideration what other species may eat the poisoned cereal. Or the ones that take the food back to their nests. Instead of getting rid of one species they may annihilate another.

    ReplyDelete

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