Cats of Ascension Island beware. The British government this week put up
£500,000 for ecological restoration on the British island in the tropical
mid-Atlantic, the key seabird breeding site in the area. A main goal will be
ridding the island of around 800 feral cats which, since their introduction in
1815, have devastated seabird populations, including the sooty tern. Roaming
donkeys will also be permanently enclosed so that their dung doesn’t spread the
seeds of the introduced Mexican thorn, which disrupts the nesting of green
turtles if it grows on beaches. “We are delighted that the government is
honouring its commitment … to restore vulnerable ecosystems,” says Jim
Stevenson of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
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