Refer Report

The Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and other newspapers reported on the 4th that a Japanese island, which is a World Natural Heritage site, has eradicated the mongoose, an alien species, after 30 years. The purpose is to prevent damage to native and rare species and preserve biodiversity, but there is also criticism that humans have brought them here and are taking their lives. A cat capture operation is also underway on the island.

Amami Oshima, a local government in Kagoshima Prefecture, succeeded in eradicating mongooses after an extermination campaign that began in the early 1990s, Japan’s Ministry of the Environment announced yesterday.

The island previously imported mongooses in 1979 as a countermeasure against poisonous snakes and rats that were damaging the island’s crops. The mongoose, also known as the cat weasel, is native to South Asia and is known as a natural enemy of snakes.

However, problems arose when the mongooses reproduced too quickly. They not only damaged agricultural products but also ate native crows and rare Amami black rabbits. According to the Sankei Shimbun, about 20 years after their introduction, the number of mongooses on the island reached 10,000.

Accordingly, local municipalities began to capture harmful birds in 1993, and after the Alien Species Act was enacted in 2005, even the government jumped into the eradication campaign in earnest. It was around this time that the capture specialist group, the Amami Mongoose Busters, was established. The cost of control operations up to the first half of this year alone amounts to approximately 3.6 billion yen (approximately 33.3 billion won).

The number of captured mongooses is around 32,000, and they have not been found since April 2018. Accordingly, the expert review committee concluded that the probability of eradication was 99% as of the end of last year, which led to the Ministry of the Environment’s declaration of eradication the day before. Locals are praising this as “an unprecedented achievement even on a global scale.” In particular, Amami Oshima Island is an area of ​​712㎢, and Mainichi reported that it is “the largest area in the world in terms of successfully eradicated after settlement.”

However, there was also a sober criticism that it was not something to be overly happy about. It was pointed out that humans brought animals in out of necessity and then got rid of them when unexpected problems arose.

Amami Oshima has also been conducting a wild cat capture operation since August 2018. The goal was to register it as a World Heritage site that year, but when the decision was made to postpone the registration, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment rolled up its sleeves with the aim of controlling the number of alien species that were harming the endemic species. According to Mainichi, the reason the people of Amami Oshima let the cats loose was to deal with poisonous snakes. The number of cats on the island was estimated at 1,200 by the government at the time, and Amami Oshima was nicknamed “Cat Island” online.

The government policy is to transfer captured cats to those who wish to do so after sterilization surgery, but if there is no suitable transfer destination, they are culled. Animal rights groups have criticized the practice, saying, “Cats born because of humans are being killed for the purpose of registering them as a World Heritage Site.” Amami Oshima was officially registered as a World Natural Heritage Site in July 2021.

Professor Tooru Ikeda, a mammalogist and invasive species expert at Hokkaido University, said, “There are concerns such as, ‘Why should animals lose their lives when humans are bad?’” He added, “We need to broaden our perspective because there are not only species that are targeted for control, but also species that are attacked by invasive species and have their habitats taken away.” He added, “It is a painful choice, but we must remember to ‘not repeat the same mistake’ while feeling the pain.” The Asahi used the expression “a heavy lesson” in its article reporting the news of the mongoose extermination.

Source: Korean