Unintended Consequences: Macquarie Island

   The Mess in Macquarie

    The devastating events that took place in the Macquarie Island are great examples of when environmentalism has a perverse result, and the good intentions end up leaving things worse than they were found. The island, between Antarctica and Australia, soon became known for its vast quantity of fur seals, attracting many hunters. With the many new hunters arriving, rats made their way on ships as well and infested the island. To solve this problem, many cats were introduced, as well as rabbits to feed any stranded sailors. While this seemed to be a smart move, it backfired when the overpopulation of cats killed all the rare birds of the island in a short amount of time. They were then removed, leaving the rabbit population to breed rapidly. They soon consumed about 40% of the island's vegetation and hopefully inspired scientists to look further into long-term effects before pursuing their plans.




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