17.October.2024

On September 3, 2024, the Ministry of the Environment declared the eradication of the non-native mongoose population on Amami Oshima complete. The alien mammals were introduced to the island in 1979 in hopes that it would help control the venomous habu viper population. However, instead, the mongooses attacked endangered species such as the Amami rabbit and impacted the local agriculture and native ecosystem.
The Amami Mongoose Busters, a team made up of local residents, the Ministry, and others worked together to install traps and sensor cameras to capture the designated pests. After capturing 32,600 mongooses, no mongooses have been caught since April 2018. However, since eradication would not be confirmed only by the number of captures, two calculation models evaluated the eradication probability, leading to the Ministry’s announcement of success.

The Amami Wildlife Conservation Center in Yamato Village will hold a commemorative exhibition (in Japanese) from September 10 to December 15. This exhibition will feature displays tracing the timeline of the mongoose eradication as well as photographs and equipment of the Amami Mongoose Busters. Please stop by to learn more about the efforts
