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Unknown predators devastating birds on South African island

Feathers are flying over who is to blame for killing rare birds on the island where former South African president Nelson Man-dela spent most of his 27 years in jail. Among the suspects: wild cats, giant mice -- and even flesh-eating rabbits.

Robben Island, best known as the prison where anti-apartheid fighters were incarcerated, is now a world heritage site prized not only for its historical significance but also its teeming wildlife.

The wind-swept island off the coast of Cape Town is host to about 132 bird species, including the protected black oyster catcher and about 7,000 breeding pairs of African penguins.

But now a dispute has broken out between the Robben Island Museum and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) on how best to protect the birds.

Robben Island authorities maintain that feral cats -- left behind by prison warders and their families and now thought to number about 70 -- are disrupting the delicate balance of nature. On April 11, a meeting of experts agreed to draft in a sharp shooter to kill the cats, saying they were "having a devastating effect on most of the endangered birds" on the island.

In statement issued after the meeting, Robben Island chief operating officer Denmark Tungwana said "the prudent way is to act swiftly before the next breeding season of the birds resumes."

"It's not just a biological whim. It's serious stuff," said Les Underhill, head of the University of Cape Town's avian demography unit, who works closely with Robben Island environmental officials.

"Cats don't belong on islands where there are breeding birds," he said.

The SPCA cried foul, saying the cull would renege on an agreement to allow the welfare society to trap the cats, sterilize them and return a small number to the island to control the resident rats.

The SPCA mounted cat-catching patrols earlier this year but only managed to trap eight.
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