On Marion Island, located in the Southern Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa, introduced house mice are endangering the long-term survival of seabirds and other native species. In response, the Mouse-Free Marion Project proposes an ambitious plan to distribute rodenticide bait from underslung bait buckets on helicopters in overlapping swathes across the entire 30,000-hectare island. Their goal is to eradicate invasive house mice from Marion Island, enabling the restoration of the island’s ecosystem and protecting its globally important biodiversity.
In preparation for this large-scale rodent eradication effort, a $15,000 grant from the Farallon Islands Foundation in 2025 provided support for a Blended Bait Distribution Trial that is planned to take place in New Zealand in 2027. This trial will aerially spread bait from a helicopter over approximately a 1000-hectare area to assess questions around bait uptake by target and non-target species, and will help researchers evaluate weathering rates of bait pellets in different habitats.
- Years of Grant: 2025
- Amount: $15,000
- Grantee: Mouse-Free Marion