By David Waugh, Correspondent, Loro Parque Fundación
Rats have their place in nature, but history shows us that their close association with humans can lead to problems, not least the menace they pose to bird species on oceanic islands. Ship-assisted rats arrive on the islands, rapidly establish populations, and predate native birds and other species which have not evolved defences to the introduced rodents. Extinctions and dwindling populations of endemic island species are closely aligned with the arrival of rats on those islands.
Species of island parrots are negatively impacted by rats, with extinctions on some islands and very reduced populations on others. Islands in the Pacific Ocean provide a poignant example of rat-induced extinctions, and specifically the territory of French Polynesia shows what has, and is still happening, to its native lorikeets.
To help avoid the extinction of the lorikeets, the Loro Parque Fundación has been supporting actions to protect two species from the ever-present possibility that black rats (Rattus rattus) could colonise their islands - the ‘Critically Endangered’ Ultramarine Lorikeet (Vini ultramarina) and the ‘Endangered’ Rimatara Lorikeet (Vini kuhlii). For the latter species, in 2007 the Loro Parque Fundación supported the translocation of 27 lorikeets from Rimatara to the similarly low-lying, rat-free island of Ātiu, to reintroduce the species into the southern Cook Islands. Currently there are estimated to be 385 individuals on Ātiu, and 835 on Rimatara. The partners in the project have been the San Diego Zoological Society, the Ornithological Society of Polynesia (SOP-MANU, BirdLife International Partner in French Polynesia), Te Ipukarea Society (BirdLife International affiliate in the Cook Islands) and the Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust. For the Ultramarine Lorikeet, the Loro Parque Fundación is supporting on-going operations of SOP-MANU to avoid rat colonisation, to check for diseases in birds introduced to the steep volcanic island of Ua Huka, and to promote a social awareness programme with local islanders to empower them to help. There are possibly about 2,000 Ultramarine Lorikeets on Ua Huka.