DMW
Well-known member
I visited the southern Japanese island of Amami last month, and was pleased to learn that the introduced Indian Mongoose population has apparently been eradicated following a very significant programme of trapping. Mongeese were introduced to control the population of native venomous snakes, but unsurprisingly predated endemic birds and mammals, greatly threatening their existence.
The last mongoose record was from 2018, and I believe the programme is being terminated. My sense is that there's been a huge rebound in the affected bird and mammal populations. In particular, Amami Woodcock and Black Rabbit were amazingly common in some areas, and Amami Thrushes (claimed to be down to as few as 100 individuals) common by voice at dawn.
There's a similar programme underway in Okinawa, but I suspect it's a much more difficult proposition being a far larger and more populated island.
The last mongoose record was from 2018, and I believe the programme is being terminated. My sense is that there's been a huge rebound in the affected bird and mammal populations. In particular, Amami Woodcock and Black Rabbit were amazingly common in some areas, and Amami Thrushes (claimed to be down to as few as 100 individuals) common by voice at dawn.
There's a similar programme underway in Okinawa, but I suspect it's a much more difficult proposition being a far larger and more populated island.
