Feasibility study update

Wildlife Management International Ltd (WMIL), the firm that ran the feasibility study into rat removal from Scilly two years ago, has won the contract for undertaking the removal work itself.

Based in New Zealand, WMIL has more than 20 years of international experience of island restoration projects, including major rat eradication exercises in the South West on Lundy and in Scotland on the Isle of Canna.

The company regularly manages and trains up teams of staff, community members and other volunteers on its many schemes. Senior ecologist Elizabeth Bell and key members of her team are due to be on the islands in June for pre-assessment work prior to the commencement of rat removal  in November.

Not only that, but at least two Balearic shearwaters have been seen. Just 3000 pairs of this Critically Endangered species survive, breeding on rocky Mediterranean islands between February and June.