Native wildlife is rebounding on a Samoan island just one year after invasive rats and pigs were removed.
The effort on Nu’utele Island, led by Samoa’s environment ministry, regional partners, local communities, and the nonprofit Island Conservation, took 12 expeditions and more than 130 days of fieldwork.
Former New Zealand rugby star Glen Osborne even joined the hunting teams tracking down the last feral pigs.
Native seedlings now carpet the forest floor, and locals can grow giant taro where crops used to fail.
Researchers found active nests of the declining shy ground dove and the endemic Samoan starling, plus a land crab species never before recorded on the island.
The recovery paves the way to reintroduce the Mao, a threatened native Samoan forest bird.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/samoan-island-witnesses-explosion-of-native-wildlife-following-removal-of-invasive-rats-and-pigs/
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2026-10-26 04:18:31 UTC
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"content": "Native wildlife is rebounding on a Samoan island just one year after invasive rats and pigs were removed. \n\nThe effort on Nu’utele Island, led by Samoa’s environment ministry, regional partners, local communities, and the nonprofit Island Conservation, took 12 expeditions and more than 130 days of fieldwork. \n\nFormer New Zealand rugby star Glen Osborne even joined the hunting teams tracking down the last feral pigs. \n\nNative seedlings now carpet the forest floor, and locals can grow giant taro where crops used to fail. \n\nResearchers found active nests of the declining shy ground dove and the endemic Samoan starling, plus a land crab species never before recorded on the island. \n\nThe recovery paves the way to reintroduce the Mao, a threatened native Samoan forest bird.\n\nhttps://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/samoan-island-witnesses-explosion-of-native-wildlife-following-removal-of-invasive-rats-and-pigs/",
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