Conservationists are scrambling around trying desperately catch a rat that has put an entire island’s biosecurity at risk.
The rodent was first spotted on Mousa, east of Sandwick, in Shetland, on April 26.
The island, which contains a well-preserved Iron Age broch, has no people but hosts the UK’s largest breeding population of storm petrels.
Charity RSPB has confirmed the presence of at least one rat and fears the petrels and other birds could be at risk from the rodent which has so far managed to evade capture.
A total of 200 bait stations with rodenticide have been placed around Mousa but a spokesman for the bird charity said that ‘no rat has been caught yet, but the remote cameras are capturing images every night’.
He also urged visitors to adhere to biosecurity guidance to protect the island and its habitat by checking their bags for any stowaways, stick to the paths and remove any food waste away to encourage the rat to go to the bait stations.
Meanwhile, campaign group Protect the Wild claims a rare, red-listed seabird is at risk from Scotland’s controversial Guga hunt.
Documents it obtained from NatureScot using freedom of information laws show officials expected the hunt to cause unavoidable disturbance to several protected species – including the red-listed Leach’s Storm Petrel – during the breeding season.
Charity RSPB fears petrels and other birds could be at risk from the rodent
A rat spotted on Mousa could pose a threat to the island's nationally important bird population
The species are vulnerable to global extinction with the population decline driven by climate change, predation and pollution.
The Northern isles of Scotland are the only place where they breed in the UK, with St Kilda home to approximately 94 percent of the country's breeding population.
The other 6 percent breed on remote offshore islands like Sula Sgier, where the licenced Guga hunt takes place with the Gannet chicks killed and eaten as a local delicacy.
But documents obtained by Protect the Wild show NatureScot officials fear the Guga hunt could have lethal consequences for birds like Leach's Petrels, who ‘are sensitive to human disturbance’.
They note the hunters and their equipment can block access to burrows, disrupt feeding and cause stress and disorientation, potentially leading to adults abandoning their nests and chicks dying even with mitigation measures in place.
NatureScot has been criticised for its decision to continue licensing the Guga hunt despite acknowledging the risks.
Devon Docherty, Scottish campaigns manager at Protect the Wild said: ‘NatureScot's job is to protect nature and wildlife - not to permit its destruction.’