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http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/guardian-weekly-advanced-1 1/5 NEWS LESSONS / Mice eating rare seabirds alive / Advanced

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S I T E© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2008

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.

predator extinct endangered vulnerable eradicate

rodent evolves unmolested remote ornithologist

If someone or something is __________________, they are easy to attack.

A __________________ place is one that is very far from cities, towns or people.

If an animal is __________________, it is not disturbed or bothered by other animals.

If a creature is __________________, it no longer exists anywhere in the world.

A __________________ is a type of small animal that has long sharp front teeth.

When an animal __________________, its physical form changes over a long period of time.

An __________________ is someone who studies birds.

If you __________________ something, you get rid of it completely.

A __________________ is an animal that kills and eats other animals.

An __________________ species is one that may soon become extinct.

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Mice eating rare seabirds alive

Level 3 Advanced

Key words1

What do you know?2

Decide whether these statements about wildlife on Gough Island in the South Atlantic are True (T) or

False (F). Then check your answers in the text.

Mice arrived in Gough Island on cruise ships.

The normal diet of house mice is insects and seeds.

The mice are 30 times bigger than the birds they kill.

More than half the young birds on Gough Island die in their nests.

One sixth of the world’s most endangered birds are on British territory.

The largest mice in the world live on Gough Island.

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True False

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From stowaway to supersize predator:the mice eating rare seabirds alive

John Vidal, environment editor

May 20, 2008

For tens of thousands of years, the birds of

Gough Island lived unmolested, without predators

on a remote outcrop in the south Atlantic. Today,

the British-owned island, described as the home

of the most important seabird colony in the world,

still hosts 22 breeding species and is a worldheritage site. But as a terrible consequence of

the rst whalers making landfall there 150 years

ago, Gough Island has become the stage for

one of nature’s great horror shows. Mice stowed

away on the whaling boats jumped ship and have

since multiplied to 700,000 or more on an island

of about 25 square miles.

What is horrifying ornithologists is that the British

house mouse has somehow evolved, growing to

up to three times the size of ordinary domestic

house mice, and instead of surviving on a diet

of insects and seeds, has adapted itself to

become a carnivore, eating albatross, petrel

and shearwater chicks alive in their nests. They

are now believed to be the largest mice in the

world. Birdlife International, a global alliance of

conservation groups, has recognized that the

mice, who are without predators themselves, are

out of control and threatening to make extinct

several of the world’s rarest bird species.

The organization, which runs the Red List of endangered bird species, elevated the Tristan

albatross, of which only a few remain in the

world, and the Gough bunting, a small nch

found only on the island, to the list of the world’s

most critically endangered species, the highest

category of threat. Five other bird species on the

island are also said to be threatened.

The RSPB has proposed hiring helicopters to

drop thousands of tonnes of rodent poison on the

volcanic island, 2,000 miles off the coast of South

America. “A government-funded feasibility study

done with New Zealand, which has eradicated

rats from many islands, shows it is possible.

The mice would take the poison and just go to

their nests and die. We think it could be done

fairly easily and would cost about £2.6m,” a

spokeswoman said.

“Things are getting worse on Gough,” said Dr

Geoff Hilton, an RSPB scientist who has been

researching conservation problems in UK

overseas territories. “In the presence of house

mice, the albatross and bunting have no chance

of survival. The only hope for these threatenedbirds is complete eradication of mice. The world’s

greatest seabird island is being eaten alive, as

the mice are likely to be affecting the fortunes

of many seabirds on the island. Without help

Gough Island will be likely to lose the majority of

seabirds,” said Hilton.

Those who have witnessed the phenomenon

say the mice attack at night either alone or in

groups, gnawing through the nests to get at

the baby birds. Their parents, who have never

experienced predators, are unable to defend

them. Studies suggest about 60% of all Gough’s

chicks die in their nests. “It is a catastrophe.

The albatross chicks weigh ten kilograms. They

evolved on Gough because it had no mammal

predators – that is why they are so vulnerable.

The mice weigh 35 grams; it is like a tabby cat

attacking a hippopotamus,” said Hilton.

Britain has long been criticized for not maintaining

the ecology of its overseas territories, which are

mainly made up of groups of islands such asPitcairn, Tristan da Cunha, and the Falklands. Of

the world’s 190 most endangered birds, 32 are now

ofcially British responsibility.

The RSPB’s spokeswoman added: “The study

shows there is a glimmer of light. The UK

government has supported us in discovering

the problem, in conducting the feasibility study,

and now in nalizing our plan for the mouse

eradication. The big question is whether the UK

will take its international commitments seriously

and do what the governments of New Zealand

and Australia have done, and provide the


Level 3 Advanced

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Level 3 Advanced

Comprehension check3

1. What is the only hope for the survival of the endangered bird species on Gough Island?

a. That insects and seeds are introduced to the island to feed the mice.

b. That the mice are taken from the island and sent elsewhere.

c. That the mice are destroyed by poison.

2. Why can’t the parents defend their chicks?

a. Because the mice are too big.

b. Because they have no experience of predators.

c. Because they are too fat.

3. What is the ‘glimmer of light’ referred to in the text?

a. The fact that New Zealand and Australia have eradicated rats from islands.

b. The fact that the UK government has supported the RSPB and the feasibility study.

c. The fact that the cold South Atlantic weather may kill the mice.

4. Which answer best describes how the Gough Island mice have evolved?

a. They have become much bigger and now only eat meat.

b. They have stopped eating insects and seeds and started eating birds.

c. They have adapted their diets and grown to up to three times the size of ordinary domestic house mice.

Choose the best answer according to the text.

big money needed to actually do the mouse

eradication. If they don’t, we won’t be able to

give two critically threatened species the lifeline

they need.”

The discovery that the mice had adapted their

diets and supersized themselves was made by

Richard Cuthbert, a professional ornithologist

who spent a year on the island in 2001 and

stumbled on the phenomenon as he was

leaving. “It sounds incredulous, implausible that

a mouse could attack a chick, but these chicks

are really big spherical balls of fat covered in

down, and because they are so fat and big they

cannot defend themselves,” he said.

© Guardian News & Media 2008

First published in The Guardian, 20/05/08

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Level 3 Advanced

Chunks5

Word formation6

Find the word4

Look in the text and nd the following words and expressions. The paragraph numbers are given to

help you.

1. A noun meaning a rock or group of rocks. (para 1)

2. A two-word expression meaning to arrive on land after a long voyage. (para 1)

3. A phrasal verb meaning to hide in a ship or plane and travel without permission. (para 1)

4. A two-word expression meaning to leave a ship without permission. (para 1)

5. A two-word expression meaning a report on the chances something has of being successful . (para 4)

6. A verb meaning to keep biting something . (para 6)

7. A phrasal verb meaning to nd something by accident . (para 9)

8. An adjective meaning difcult to accept as true. (para 9)

Discussion6

Is it important if rare species become extinct? Should governments and conservationists intervene in

situations like this or should they simply let nature take its course?

Complete the sentences about the text using the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each

sentence.

1. The effects of the growing numbers of mice on Gough Island could be _______________ for the bird population.[catastrophe]

2. The UK government has supported the RSPB _______________. [propose]

3. Britain’s _______________ of the ecology of its overseas territories has been criticized. [maintain]

4. The Tristan albatross and Gough bunting are facing _______________. [extinct]

5. The _______________ of the Gough Island mice is extraordinary. [evolve]

6. The birds have no defence against the mice; they are _______________. [defend]

Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text. Check your answers in the text.

1. house domestic mice ordinary

2. the species bird rarest of several world’s

3. feasibility a funded study government

4. most the critically world’s species endangered

5. of groups alliance a conservation global

6. the colony most world in the seabird important



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Level 3 Advanced

1 Key words

vulnerable

remote

unmolested

extinct

rodent

evolvesornithologist

eradicate

predator

endangered

2 What do you know?

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T

3 Comprehension check

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4 Find the word

outcrop

make landfall

stow away

jump ship

feasibility study

gnawstumble on

implausible

5 Chunks

ordinary domestic house mice

several of the world’s rarest bird species

a government-funded feasibility study

the world’s most critically endangered species

a global alliance of conservation groups

the most important seabird colony in the world

6 Word formation

catastrophic

proposal

maintenance

extinction

evolution

defenceless

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KEY

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