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A brown tree snake near a snake trap hanging from a fence on Guam. Believed to be a stowaway on a U.S. military transport after the end of World War II, the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) was accidentally introduced to Guam, which previously had no native species of snake. It nearly eliminated the native bird population.
The brown tree snake is a nocturnal and arboreal species that uses both visual and chemical cues when hunting, either in the rainforest canopy or on the ground. [3] It is a member of the subfamily Colubrinae, genus Boiga, which is a group of roughly twenty-five species that are referred to as "cat-eyed" snakes for their vertical pupils. [4]
On 5 November 2020, the US Department of the Interior and the US Geological Survey announced that the brown tree snake had been found on Cocos Island. [3] The brown tree snake is an invasive species responsible for the eradication of many species of wildlife native to Guam, including birds and lizards.
>> $1.1 million for the brown tree snake rapid response. >> $800K for two-lined spittlebug control. >>$200,000 for feral chicken control, to be appropriated to each county as a grant-in-aid.
The endemic birds of Guam, the southernmost Mariana island, were severely affected by the introduction of the brown tree snake after World War II. It has been reported that 11 of Guam's 14 terrestrial birds have become extinct or extirpated from Guam. [15]
The brown tree snake has had an impact on the native bird population of the island ecosystem of Guam. Island ecosystems may be more prone to invasion because their species face few strong competitors and predators, and because their distance from colonizing species populations makes them more likely to have "open" niches. [25]
Guam has experienced severe effects of invasive species upon the natural biodiversity of the island. These include the local extinction of endemic bird species after the introduction of the brown tree snake, an infestation of the coconut rhinoceros beetle destroying coconut palms, and the effect of introduced feral mammals and amphibians.
The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have worked in collaboration with the Department of Defense and territorial government since the 1990s to control and mitigate the brown tree snake population and assist in efforts to reintroduce the rail and other bird species to Guam. [27]