In 2002, crews removed rats from California’s Anacapa Island; 10 years later, rare seabirds were returning and the island’s ecosystem was recovering

Anacapa Island shows significant seabird recovery ten years after rat removal. Ashy storm-petrels now nest there, and Cassin's auklets have expanded their territories. Scripps's murrelet nests have quadrupled, with a fifty percent increase in hatched eggs. Rats previously threatened critical breeding habitats and consumed many eggs. This successful project demonstrates a valuable conservation tool for global island restoration.