From the Pacific Islands …
Success! Strike Teams Eradicate Invasive Crazy Ants
From Island Refuge
Sunday, February 13, 1:30 p.m. on Zoom

Join Kate Toniolo, Superintendent of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, as she relates the incredible success story of eradicating the Yellow Crazy Ant from Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, about 820 miles southwest of Honolulu and one of the most isolated places on Earth.

This 640 acre refuge is home to tens of thousands of seabirds. Since 2010, the crazy ants have threatened these ground-nesting birds. The ants don’t bite, but they spray an acid which causes injuries including blindness and even death.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded by setting up Crazy Ant Strike Teams. Every six months a new five-person crew of volunteers and staff was assigned to this remote, uninhabited island to kill yellow crazy ants. The battle required creativity and ingenuity. Crews had to experiment to find the best way to bait and eradicate the ants. They had to hand-search the island multiple times to check for ants. Conservation dogs were also brought in to sniff out any remaining ants.

Success! After combating yellow crazy ants for nearly a decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared that the invasive yellow ant has been eradicated from Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, an amazing story.