Eradicating invasive predators from seabird nesting islands delivers dramatic population recovery for vulnerable species, but the eradication methods themselves have welfare implications.
Island predator eradication programmes present a welfare dilemma: the eradication method — typically brodifacoum rodenticide bait — causes prolonged deaths in target animals, and may affect non-target species including native birds. The conservation benefit is profound and well-documented: island bird populations recover dramatically after successful eradication, restoring millions of individual birds to flourishing populations. The welfare calculus involves comparing the prolonged deaths of thousands of rodents against the ongoing welfare harm to millions of seabird eggs and chicks destroyed annually by those predators. Most conservation ethicists conclude that eradication is justified when populations are genuinely at risk, and recommend minimising non-target impacts through careful bait placement and timing.