Skip to main content
Log in

Inventory of alien birds and mammals in the Wallis and Futuna Archipelago

  • Invasion Note
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In November 2007 and November 2008, we conducted a bird and mammal survey on Wallis and Futuna. We found two non-native bird species on Wallis: the Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) and the Chestnut-breasted Munia (Lonchura castaneothorax), and one on Futuna: the Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus). We also recorded Black Rats (Rattus rattus) on Futuna, a recent introduction to this island. The introduction of 3 bird species and Black Rats in the last decade denotes a lack of preventive measures and demonstrates that the issue of invasive species has not received sufficient priority.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atkinson IAE (1973) Spread of the Ship Rat (Rattus rattus rattus L.) in New Zealand. J Roy Soc NZ 3:457–472

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson IAE, Atkinson TJ (2000) Land vertebrates as invasive species on islands served by the South Pacific regional environment programme. In: Sherley G (ed) Invasive species in the Pacific: a technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Apia, pp 19–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill BJ (1995) Notes on the birds of Wallis and Futuna, south-west Pacific. Notornis 42:17–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Guyot I, Thibault J-C (1987) Les oiseaux terrestres des îles Wallis-et-Futuna (Pacifique sud-ouest). L’Oiseau et la Revue Française d’Ornithologie 57:226–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Guyot I, Thibault J-C (1988) La conservation de 1’avifaune des îles Wallis et Futuna. In: Thibault J-C, Guyot I (eds) Livre rouge des oiseaux menacés des régions françaises d’outre-mer Conseil International pour la Protection des Oiseaux, Saint-Cloud. Monographies du CIPO 5, France, pp 125–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe S, Browne M, Boudjelas S (2000) 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species, a selection from the global invasive species database. IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group, Alien 12

  • Ogden J, Gilbert J (2009) Prospects for the eradication of rats from a large inhabited island: community based ecosystem studies on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand. Biol Inv 11:1705–1717

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rinke D, Onnebrink H, Curio E (1992) Miscellaneous bird notes from the kingdom of Tonga. Notornis 39:301–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouys S, Theuerkauf J (2003) Factors determining the distribution of introduced mammals in nature reserves of the southern province, New Caledonia. Wildl Res 30:187–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherley G, Timmins S, Lowe S (2000) Draft invasive species strategy for the Pacific islands region. In: Sherley G (ed) Invasive species in the Pacific: a technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Apia, pp 1–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Watling D (1975) Observations on the ecological separation of two introduced congeneric mynahs (Acridotheres) in Fiji. Notornis 22:37–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Watling D (2004) A guide to the birds of Fiji and western Polynesia including American Samoa, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga. Tuvalu and Wallis & Futuna. Environment Consultants Fiji, Suva, p 206

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This paper was part of an inventory of exotic species on Wallis and Futuna, organised by the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (New Caledonia), and financed by the Environmental Service of Wallis and Futuna within the framework of the Biodiversity Action Plan 2006–2010 (engagement 2007.500003). JT and RG were supported by grants of the Loro Parque Fundación (Spain) and Fonds für bedrohte Papageien—Zoologische Gesellschaft für Arten- und Populationsschutz (Germany). We thank all the staff of the Environmental Service for their cooperation and support and our colleagues F. Condamine, B. Gatimel, J.Y. Meyer, J. Munzinger, Y. Pillon and I. Richling and for their help during field work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roman Gula.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Theuerkauf, J., Jourdan, H., Rouys, S. et al. Inventory of alien birds and mammals in the Wallis and Futuna Archipelago. Biol Invasions 12, 2975–2978 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9706-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9706-y

Keywords

Navigation