Cats and rats have had hugely detrimental effects upon seabird populations in Ascension, resulting in the confining of most seabird nesting to offshore islets and inaccessible cliffs. The Seabird Restoration Project was initiated in order to address this issue. This involved the eradication of feral cats, the last of which was removed from Ascension’s mainland in 2004. Effort continues to be placed into controlling rats. The Ascension Island Government (AIG) Conservation Department also manages a database of all domestic cats on the island. All of the cats are spayed/neutered but do occasionally go missing, although they are trapped if there is any evidence that they are in the seabird colonies. Information is being gathered from the public about their cats, including a description of the cat and their microchip number and, whether a cat has died, changed ownership or left the island. |