Islands only take up around 5.3 percent of land on Earth, yet they are home to 75 percent of known extinctions of bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile extinctions since 1500.
Animals such as feral cats and dogs should be culled from islands around the world to save their prey from extinction, according to conservationists.
To arrive at their conclusion, the researchers looked at data on 1,184 highly threatened native vertebrates, as identified as critically endangered or endangered on the IUCN Red List, and 184 non-native mammals that live on 1,279 islands across the world. The eradication of dogs, goats, and cats, on San Jose, Mexico, could meanwhile save the kangaroo rat and the brush rabbit, which are unique to the island.
"This is the same technique that has been successfully used to eradicate rodents on many islands worldwide," he said. “This study is an invaluable global assessment of where these future conservation opportunities exist and supports regional and national decision-making about where and how to prevent extinctions.”
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