The Indian musk shrew (Suncus murinus), an efficient and rapid coloniser, has spread from its ori... more The Indian musk shrew (Suncus murinus), an efficient and rapid coloniser, has spread from its original home in India to become an ecological threat of global importance. A project to eradicate musk shrews from a 25 ha Mauritian offshore island began in July 1999. Due to the shrew's low susceptibility to anticoagulant poisons, we relied on live trapping. Seven months of continual trapping initially appeared to have been successful but the population soon re-turned to its original level. A second experimental eradication on a smaller island (2 ha), carried out over three weeks in June 2000, allowed us to monitor the eradication process more closely, and a return visit has revealed no further signs of shrews. Studies of bait preference and trap use, in field and captive situations, gave further insights into how to attract shrews into traps. The invasive land snail Achatina fulica proved by far the most successful bait. Captive trap trials revealed design problems in the type of tr...
Invasive species are now widely regarded as the second most important threat to biodiversity, aft... more Invasive species are now widely regarded as the second most important threat to biodiversity, after habitat destruction. The impacts of invasive species are particu-larly severe on small island ecosystems. This paper briefly reviews the importance of such ...
The Asian musk shrew Suncus murinus is an invasive predator that has had a considerable impact on... more The Asian musk shrew Suncus murinus is an invasive predator that has had a considerable impact on biodiversity. An eradication was attempted from Ile aux Aigrettes, a 25-ha island reserve off the coast of Mauritius as part of a wider restoration program. A total of 759 shrews were ...
The Indian musk shrew (Suncus murinus), an efficient and rapid coloniser, has spread from its ori... more The Indian musk shrew (Suncus murinus), an efficient and rapid coloniser, has spread from its original home in India to become an ecological threat of global importance. A project to eradicate musk shrews from a 25 ha Mauritian offshore island began in July 1999. Due to the shrew's low susceptibility to anticoagulant poisons, we relied on live trapping. Seven months of continual trapping initially appeared to have been successful but the population soon re-turned to its original level. A second experimental eradication on a smaller island (2 ha), carried out over three weeks in June 2000, allowed us to monitor the eradication process more closely, and a return visit has revealed no further signs of shrews. Studies of bait preference and trap use, in field and captive situations, gave further insights into how to attract shrews into traps. The invasive land snail Achatina fulica proved by far the most successful bait. Captive trap trials revealed design problems in the type of tr...
Invasive species are now widely regarded as the second most important threat to biodiversity, aft... more Invasive species are now widely regarded as the second most important threat to biodiversity, after habitat destruction. The impacts of invasive species are particu-larly severe on small island ecosystems. This paper briefly reviews the importance of such ...
The Asian musk shrew Suncus murinus is an invasive predator that has had a considerable impact on... more The Asian musk shrew Suncus murinus is an invasive predator that has had a considerable impact on biodiversity. An eradication was attempted from Ile aux Aigrettes, a 25-ha island reserve off the coast of Mauritius as part of a wider restoration program. A total of 759 shrews were ...
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Papers by Karen Varnham