Orkney Islands' Vole Population Soars After Stoat Removal

0:00It's March 30th. This is Europe News Today, AI-powered stories from across the continent. Removing invasive stoats from Scotland's Orkney Islands is paying off big time for local wildlife. Since the project kicked off in 2019, teams have taken out over 8,500 stoats using humane traps. This has led to the highest Orkney-Vole activity in spring 2025 since monitoring started, with signs of these unique rodents popping up across a third of surveyed spots. Vole numbers are booming because stoats were gobbling them up. Some stoat caches held up to 100 Vols. Automactivity states strong, too, giving a solid food base for birds that depend on them. Hien Harriers, one of the UK's rarest birds of prey, saw their best breeding year since 2012 with 74 sites active and nearly 60, chicks fledging despite bad weather. For eared owls also hid high marks, confirmed at 55 sites with breeding ups since 2019. Stoats hitched a ride to Orkney around 2010, but they're not native there and threatened

1:04species like the world. Only Orkney vols, curloughs, and raptors. The Orkney Native Wildlife Project, run by RSPB Scotland, Nature Scott, and local council, uses detection dogs and biosecurity to keep stop free. Islands safe. Islands are calling it fantastic news, proving we can reverse declines by tackling invasives head on. This wind follows ferret removal from another UK island, showing island ecosystems can bounce back strong.