Rat Prevention Kits

Preventing rat infestations is easier than removing rats that have become established on remote islands. Thanks to a generous donation from Woodsteram Corporation, our newest partner in seabird restoration, The Nature Conservancy will work together with partners to provide rat prevention kits to hundreds of vessel owners to help keep Alaska's islands rat free! Find out more about rat prevention kits.

Seabirds of the Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is the primary breeding ground for over 20 million seabirds, including but not limited to auklets, petrels, murres and puffins. Learn more about these birds and their nesting habitats.

Partner Success Stories

Island Conservation partnered with state and Federal agencies to successfully remove rats from Anacapa Island, restoring balance to the ecosystem and resulting in a rebound of all native species on the island, from seabirds to herpetofauna. The Nature Conservancy is working with Island Conservation to restore seabird habitat in the Bering Sea.

Protecting Aleutian Island Biodiversity

The Bering Sea is one of the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth. The rich waters of the Bering Sea support over 50% of the U.S. domestic fisheries catch, enormous populations of fish and shellfish, some of the world’s greatest concentrations of marine mammals, and millions of seabirds and shorebirds. The Aleutian Islands unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, hosts one of the most diverse and dense concentrations of seabirds in North America. However, introduced rats (Rattus spp.) have likely extirpated some colonies and actively threaten others. Introduced Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are currently the most immediate threat to biodiversity in the region. The largest auklet colony in Alaska, on remote Kiska Island, may face extinction risk within 30 years due to predation by Norway rats.

The Nature Conservancy in Alaska has recently partnered with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and Island Conservation to restore seabird nesting habitat on the Aleutian Islands by removing introduced Norway rats from select islands. We are developing and testing techniques to remove rats from islands where they have become established, as part of a multi-faceted seabird habitat restoration program. The partnership between the Conservancy, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Island Conservation, and local and tribal governments to remove rats from infested islands in the Bering Sea and to prevent any new introductions from occurring is one of the most progressive seabird conservation programs in the world. This program may ultimately result in the survival of hundreds of thousands of seabirds.

To date, rats have been successfully removed from over 274 islands worldwide. Kiska Island would be the largest and most challenging restoration attempted and could result in the survival of hundreds of thousands of seabirds. The Nature Conservancy, Island Conservation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge are committed to restoring seabird habitat in the Aleutian Islands by removing rats wherever possible and preventing any new introductions.