Isophoric News · Thursday, October 22, 2026
Native wildlife recovering on Samoa's Nu'utele Island a year after rats and feral pigs were removed
Forests and wildlife on Nu'utele Island, a Key Biodiversity Area in Samoa, are showing signs of recovery about a year after invasive rats and feral pigs were removed, Good News Network reported. Samoa's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service, island community members and the nonprofit Island Conservation removed the animals, and field teams made 12 expeditions between March 2025 and May 2026, the report said. "In many areas, native seedlings are carpeting the forest floor," said Island Conservation project manager Paul Jacques, and researchers found active nests of the shy ground dove with eggs one month after the removal. Island Conservation plans to move the threatened Mao, a native Samoan forest bird, to the island, as part of a restoration target it set for 2032, according to the report.
