The biggest factor in chick mortality on Gough Island is tiny little mice. The nocturnal mammals attack at night, when the chicks are sleepy and tired, and climb up the nest and onto the back of the fluffy juvenile albatross.
The chicks, who dwarf the mice considerably, will swat them away at first. But the mice are persistent.
“After a few hours of this, the chick gets tired and the mice get an opportunity to create a small wound,” Dr Cleeland says
“It might take several hours, and it might take several mice, but that wound gets bigger and bigger and eventually causes the death of the albatross chick.”
Even the adults are being attacked by mice as they care for their precious eggs.
“This is something quite new that we’ve seen, and it has much greater consequences for the population — it’s no longer just the chicks,” Dr Cleeland says.
The latest population estimate for Tristan albatross indicates that, without radical intervention, the species will be extinct in 20 years.
The RSPB, which helps manage the island, will start a mouse eradication program in 2020 where they will use helicopters to spread mouse bait over the entire island.
The non-profit organisation is still fundraising to hit its target of about $16 million, as the mission to rid the island of rodents is logistically and technically very difficult.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-09-15/gough-island-albatross-off-track/11499568