Editing Polynesian rat (section)

==Rat control and bird conservation==

=== New Zealand ===
In New Zealand and its offshore islands, many bird species evolved in the absence of terrestrial mammalian predators, so developed no behavioral defenses to rats. The introduction by the Māori of the Polynesian rat into New Zealand resulted in the eradication of several species of terrestrial and small seabirds.

Subsequent elimination of rats from islands has resulted in substantial increases in populations of certain seabirds and endemic terrestrial birds, as well as species of insects such as the [[Deinacrida heteracantha|Little Barrier Island giant wētā]]. As part of its program to restore these populations, such as the critically endangered [[kākāpō]], the [[New Zealand Department of Conservation]] undertakes programs to eliminate the Polynesian rat on most offshore islands in its jurisdiction, and other conservation groups have adopted similar programs in other reserves seeking to be predator- and rat-free.<ref>Auckland Conservancy. 2006.   [http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/about-doc/concessions-and-permits/conservation-revealed/kiore-pacific-rat-polynesian-rat-lowres.pdf Kiore / Pacific Rat/ Polynesian Rat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518205843/http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/about-doc/concessions-and-permits/conservation-revealed/kiore-pacific-rat-polynesian-rat-lowres.pdf |date=2010-05-18 }} New Zealand Department of Conservation</ref>

However, two islands in the [[Hen and Chicken Islands|Hen and Chickens group]], Mauitaha and Araara, have now been set aside as sanctuaries for the Polynesian rat.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10649358">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10649358 |title=Rare rats off the hook as DoC gives them island sanctuary |author=Tahana, Yvonne |date=3 June 2010 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=3 November 2011}}</ref>

=== Rest of the Pacific ===
[[NZAID]] has funded rat eradication programs in the [[Phoenix Islands]] of [[Kiribati]] in order to protect the bird species of the [[Phoenix Islands Protected Area]].<ref name="PI12">{{cite web|first=Regen |last=Jamieson|title = Removing Rats and Rabbits: An Interview with Ray Pierce |date =18 April 2014|url= http://pipa.neaq.org/2012/04/removing-rats-and-rabbits-interview.html |publisher= New England Aquarium - Phoenix Islands Blog |access-date= 25 January 2015}}</ref>

Between July and November 2011, a partnership of the Pitcairn Islands Government and the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] implemented a poison baiting programme on [[Henderson Island (Pitcairn Islands)|Henderson Island]] aimed at eradicating the Polynesian rat.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-241934|title= Henderson Island Restoration Project|author= Royal Society for the Protection of Birds|access-date=28 May 2012}}</ref> Mortality was massive, but of the 50,000 to 100,000 population, 60 to 80 individuals survived and the population has now fully recovered.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Amos|first1=W.|last2=Nichols|first2=H. J.|last3=Chuchyard|first3=T.|last4=Brooke|first4=M. de L.|title=Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific|journal=Royal Society Open Science|volume=3|issue=4|pages=160110|date= 2016|doi=10.1098/rsos.160110|pmid=27152226|pmc=4852649|bibcode=2016RSOS....360110A}}</ref>