Unintended Consequences of Predator Control

The intent was to protect birds by removing one of their predators: cats. What happened was something that hurt the birds worse.

It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds.

But the decision to eradicate the felines from Macquarie island allowed the rabbit population to explode and, in turn, destroy much of its fragile vegetation that birds depend on for cover, researchers said Tuesday.