After more than three years of work, the Tetiaroa Atoll has been declared rat-free following a massive effort to poison off two invasive species devastating the ecosystem.
The mission required the cutting of some 160 miles of trails across 1,250 acres of tropical atoll forest, and a team that were willing to suffer the bugs, humidity, rats, and days without showers.
Tetiaroa Atoll is as paradisiacal a tropical island as anyone could imagine. It was bought by actor Marlon Brando on a 99-year lease, and is home to one of the world’s most expensive island resorts.
It is also the home—or was the home, of two species of introduced rat, the black rat and the Polynesian rat, both of which wrecked havoc on the local ecosystem of nesting sea turtles, skittish ghost and coconut crabs, and dozens of sea birds like the blue and red-footed boobies.
After three years of work and research in the field, the summer of 2022 saw the NGO Island Conservation initiate an operation to eradicate all the rats from all 12 islands in the atoll, in collaboration with the luxury hotel Le Brando and the non-profit organization non-profit Tetiaroa Society.