A comprehensive rat elimination trial supported by Bell Laboratories has led to the initiation of what has been dubbed one of the world's largest rat eradication projects on the island of South Georgia. The program has also won the support of the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to the tune of 250,000 (A$365,000) worth of funding to the South Georgia Heritage Trust. The aim of the project is to secure the survival of one of the world's most important seabird sanctuaries. The Habitat Restoration project is an ambitious three year plan to eradicate rats, which originally arrived on South Georgia as stowaways on sealing and whaling ships, but whose recent population explosion is having a catastrophic effect on the island's wildlife and ecology, especially its endemic bird populations.
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