---
title: "Helping threatened shearwaters and petrels in the Galápagos by getting rid of rats"
---

# Helping threatened shearwaters and petrels in the Galápagos by getting rid of rats

The [Galápagos National Park Service](http://www.galapagospark.org/) and the NGO [Island Conservation](http://www.islandconservation.org/) reported last week that the 490-ha island of Rábida is now considered free of Norway or Brown Rats *Rattus norvegicus*following a poison bait drop by helicopter in January 2011 ([click here](http://www.islandconservation.org/UserFiles/File/Galapagos%20Restoration%20Project_12_8_12.pdf)).

 Following on from Rábida and some nearby islets treated last year the Service worked with Island Conservation and the [Charles Darwin Foundation](http://www.darwinfoundation.org/english/pages/index.php) to drop poison bait by helicopter on Pinzón (1812 ha) and the nearby 10-ha islet of Plaza Sur last and this month in an attempt to eradicate Black or Ship Rats *R. rattus* ([click here](http://www.acap.aq/latest-news/ridding-pinzon-of-180-million-rats-will-be-good-for-the-galapagos-shearwater-and-its-giant-tortoises)).

 It has also been reported that the Service aims to attempt a rat eradication on 172-km² Floreana in 2014 ([click here](http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/12/ecuador-could-soon-lead-in-anti-rat-race.html)) as part of a programme that is set to continue until 2020 to remove introduced rodents from islands and islets in the Galápagos.  Floreana is inhabited which will complicate the eradication exercise.  [Click here](http://www.galapagospark.org/boletin.php?noticia=717) to read this news in Spanish.

 All these efforts are expected to help the burrowing Galápagos Shearwater *Puffinus subalaris**and the [Critically Endangered](http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3897)*Galápagos*Petrel**Pterodroma phaeopygia**which are both endemic to the Gal*á*pagos.  In one study p*redation by rats was found to be the primary cause of nest failure in the Galápagos*Petrel.**So far p*redator control has involved intensive rat baiting around known colonies on those islands where the petrel breeds, including on Floreana (where the shearwater also breeds).

  *In 2011 Ecuador informed the Sixth Meeting of ACAP's Advisory Committee of its desire to nominate the*Galápagos*Petrel for listing within the Agreement ([click here](http://www.acap.aq/meeting-documents/english/advisory-committee/ac6/ac6-report)).*

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 December 2012*