Island starts widespread eradication programme to protect endangered seabirds

It’s a spectacular home to thousands of seabirds, many on the red list at risk of extinction. But Rathlin Island, off the coast of Northern Ireland is also home to thousands of rats whose appetite for eggs and chicks is threatening the future of the seabird colony.

Ferrets were brought in to control the rats, but instead they also got a taste for the birds.

So now the RSPB and its partners are embarking on a major eradication programme to save the seabirds before it’s too late.