Grey-headed albatrosses on the brink in Australia

Nov 2006. Invasive animal species are threatening the grey-headed albatross on Australia's Macquarie Island, the bird's only known breeding site in Australia, with the risk of extinction.

Since the 1980s, rabbit numbers on the World Heritage-listed island 1500km south-east of Tasmania in the Southern Ocean, have jumped from about 10,000 to more than 100,000 today. This has caused extensive damage to the island's distinctive tussock grasses and coastal slopes that provide shelter and materials for nesting seabirds.

The small population of 80 breeding pairs of the grey-headed albatross at Petrel Peak has been particularly affected by the island’s rabbit plague.

Julie Kirkwood, WWF-Australia said ‘Macquarie Island’s small breeding population of grey-headed albatross is extremely vulnerable to impacts to its limited nesting site,’ There are only a few grains of sand left in the hourglass for this species in Australia.’

Rabbit grazing at another part of the island is also severely impacting the light-mantled sooty albatross, which has contributed to almost half the nesting birds of one site failing to rear chicks.

There is also evidence that a growing rat and mice population on Macquarie Island are killing petrel chicks in their nests. Blue petrels are so seriously threatened on the island that they can only breed on off-shore rock stacks.

In an effort to save threatened albatross and petrels, WWF-Australia is calling on the Australian and Tasmanian governments to implement a programme to fully eradicate rabbits and rats by the end of 2006.

‘We have run out of time,’ stressed Kirkwood. ‘The survival of albatross and petrels on Macquarie Island depends on quick action.’

Courtesy of WWF