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A concise account of exotic terrestrial mammals known to have been introduced in Antarctica and the 19 peri-Antarctic islands is provided. This includes the entire region currently relevant to the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. Of the 24 introduced species 10 are extant at one or more locations in 2011. Some species have had a widespread distribution and others are represented by one, or a few, individuals. The majority arrived as deliberate introductions but that of some was adventitious. Details of their dates of introduction, current status, and indications of environmental effects, are tabulated. Current eradication programmes are noted.

King George Island and Nelson Island, close together in the central South Shetland Islands, were discovered early in the 19th century and often visited by whalers and sealers. Whalers also used their harbours early in the present century. The first permanent station was established in 1947 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. Currently they are the site of scientific stations and depots operated by eight Antarctic Treaty nations (Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Chile, Peoples' Republic of China, Poland, USSR and Uruguay), all of which make use of their accessible harbours and relatively long summer season.