On Ascension Island, a UK Overseas Territory in the south Atlantic, hundreds of feral cats were trapped and put down or killed in an ambitious two year project part-funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The goal was to protect endangered frigate birds.
Not surprisingly, the plan has backfired. While the lack of cats has allowed the birds to thrive, the lack of cats has also allowed rats to thrive. Now the rats eating sooty tern chicks and eggs, threatening an endangered species once more. Given the choice, would you rather have cats or rats?
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