How this idyllic island is thriving after killing 300,000 rats, rodents

RJ Hamster

1 year ago

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we travel to Australia’s rodent-free volcanic island, investigate South Africa’s lion bone trade … and discover how poison ivy gets more toxic. Plus, scroll down to play ‘Where in the World?’

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN GILLIGAN

Native wildlife and plants are thriving again on a subtropical volcanic island that is the largest of its kind to have been successfully cleared of the second most destructive being, after humans.

The island has no rats.

How did Australia’s Lord Howe Island do it? Can other populated islands do so? How dramatically has life changed?

Read the full story here.

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A new day: Rats held sway on the island for more than a century. After their eradication, migratory seabirds that breed there are bouncing back. Among them: the black-winged petrel (above), photographed by Nat Geo Explorer Justin Gilligan. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

PHOTOGRAPH BY RODRIGO ARANGUA, AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The sargassum seaweed blob has arrived on Florida’s beaches. Here’s what we know about it. (Above, a similar occurrence in Mexico)

This deadly fungus has swept through hospitals

7 hormones that control your hunger—and how you can control them

Uncovering the hidden figures of Gettysburg

Was this Egypt’s first female pharaoh?

Eat these foods to keep your brain strong and healthy

Don’t dump it down the drain. Here’s a better way to dispose of used cooking oil.

What exactly is aquaculture? And could it be the solution to overfishing?

Sudan, facing an uncertain future, is drawing on its past

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERTO MOIOLA, GETTY IMAGES

An otherworldly escape: These islands, home to the lake that hangs over the ocean (pictured above), are popular on social media for their dreamy rushing waterfalls, and other vast, lush, and picturesque landscapes. Where are these islands?

Hint: Hitchhike these isles

SEE THE ANSWER

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRENT STIRTON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Lion bone trade: South Africa ended the trade of lion bones in 2019, but leaked customs data combined with Nat Geo on-the-ground reporting reveals networks of people that orchestrated the trade—including bone sellers, middlemen, and buyers. These findings support the idea that legal trade has provided cover for criminal syndicates smuggling lion bones across the globe as part of the multibillion-dollar illegal wildlife trade industry, Nat Geo reports. (Above, lion bones hang to dry.)

WHO BUYS LION BONES?

LAST GLIMPSE

PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER VAN RHIJNPETER VAN RHIJN/ALL CANADA PHOTOS/ALAMY

Leaves of three, let it be: As carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, poison ivy (shown above) is growing more vigorously—and becoming more toxic. Via a six-year study, the plant is able to convert the higher carbon into leaves and stems: “That was the largest response of any species in the forest,” Nat Geo reports.

LEARN MORE

Today’s soundtrack: Poison Ivy, Meshell Ndegeocello
Thanks for reading our newsletter! It was edited and curated by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, and David Beard. We’d love to hear from you:
david.beard@natgeo.com. Keep shining!

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