The Critically Endangered Antiguan racer Alsophis antiguae is endemic to Antigua and Barbuda (441 km2 area) but declined following the arrival of invasive mammals. By 1995, only an estimated 51 Antiguan racers survived on an offshore islet (Great Bird Island: 8·4 ha), many of which had injuries consistent with rat bites. To prevent extinction, a consortium of national and international organizations eradicated the Black rats Rattus rattus from Great Bird Island in 1995 and the snake population promptly doubled in size. The agencies then embarked on a programme to eradicate invasive rats and, where present, Small Asian mongooses Herpestes javanicus from a further 14 islands around Antigua. The first reintroduction was carried out in November 1999, with ten wild racers translocated from Great Bird Island to Rabbit Island. Further reintroductions followed to Green Island (from October 2002) and York Island (from January 2008), bringing the total area of occupancy for racers to 63 ha. The translocated racers appeared to thrive in their new habitats and reproduced almost immediately. The reintroduction programme was underpinned by field research, fundraising and an innovative education campaign to address prevailing negative attitudes towards snakes. While the Antiguan racer metapopulation has increased to > 1100 individuals in the wild, lasting success depends on Great Bird, Rabbit, Green and York Islands being fully protected from invasive mammals and harmful developments. To spread the risk, additional reintroduction sites must be identified.

Conservation news Antigua announces 15th island cleared of invasive alien mammals The once-forested island nation of Antigua and Barbuda in the Eastern Caribbean looks starkly different today. Besides having lost most of its forest cover-first to agriculture and later to urban sprawl and tourism developments-this small country has suffered from a wide range of harmful invaders. Among the most devastating for wildlife are the Eurasian black rat Rattus rattus, which reached the Caribbean with European settlers in the th century, and the small Asian mongoose Herpestes javanicus, introduced in the late th century in an attempt to control the rats. Many native species have been lost, including the Antiguan burrowing owl Athene cunicularia amaura, the endemic Antiguan and Barbudan muskrats 'Ekbletomys hypenemus' and Megalomys audreyae and, most recently, the Lesser Antillean iguana Iguana delicatissima. While native biodiversity declined on Antigua and Barbuda, the country's uninhabited offshore islands emerged as vitally important natural refugia. More than  small limestone islands scattered across Antigua's shallow coastal shelf are home to globally important colonies of seabirds, the Vulnerable West Indian whistling-duck Dendrocygna arborea, nesting marine turtles and many of the country's last endemic plants, reptiles and invertebrates. Collectively, the islands have been internationally recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area, an Alliance for Zero Extinction Site, and an Important Bird Area. By the s, however, most of Antigua's offshore islands were occupied by rats, and mongooses had reached the larger islands, further depleting their native flora and fauna. Among the many species affected was the Critically Endangered Antiguan racer Alsophis antiguae, a harmless dipsadid snake. Only c.  racers remained when the species was first surveyed by Fauna & Flora International (FFI) in , all confined to the -ha Great Bird Island, and most had been injured by black rats. To save these rare snakes, rats were successfully eradicated from Great Bird Island and two neighbouring cays in  by staff from FFI, the Forestry Unit and the Environmental Awareness Group. Since then efforts to remove invasive alien mammals have expanded across the archipelago, with  islands successfully targeted:

No abstract

No abstract