The Lord Howe fantail lived on Lord Howe Island and was observed by the people living there. Some scientists list it as a subspecies of the New Zealand grey fantail, while others place deem it a complete species. As a songbird, it did better than the larger birds which were eaten, but it too succumbed to the rats. By 1924, six years after the arrival of the rats, the Lord Island fantail was extinct. Lord Howe Island is a unique habitat found in the middle of the Tasman Sea and is part of New South Wales, Australia. Lord Howe Island’s extinction history runs parallel to so many other unique islands around the world. It has been a World Heritage Site for over 36 years and has many unique species that can only be found on Lord Howe Island. It had 113 unique plants, approximately 800 insect species, not to mention the many bird species that have gone extinct there. As people came to Lord Howe Island on the routes from Australia to Norfolk Island, then up to the Solomon Islands, the people used the island to hunt and gather supplies. The Lord Howe swamphen and pigeon were so tame they were “easily caught by hand”. They were the first island species to go extinct. In 1834, the British established a settlement on Lord Howe Island. In 1850’s scientists came to the island to catalog its unique species. Lord Howe Island became a tourist destination because of its unique plants, wildlife, and location. As people came to the island more often, invasive species were inadvertently brought with them. According to the Lord Howe Island Rodent Eradication Project, the house mouse was brought to the island in 1860. On June 15, 1918 the steamship SS Makambo ran aground and released black rats on Lord Howe Island when the crew threw crates of bananas overboard to lessen the ship’s weight. The rats had been hiding in these crates and floated to the island. This accidental event had devastating consequences on Lord Howe Island. The exact reason for the extinction of the Lord Howe fantail is unknown, but the rat invasion lines up with its decline. In fact 40% of Lord Howe’s bird species went extinct. Other invasive species such as the European starling and common blackbird may have also out competed with the fantail. Other scientists point to the clearing of native forests as a likely culprit. Although Jurassic Park is fiction, scientists are working on several de-extinction projects. In fact, in 2003 scientists did bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of wild goat, for 7 minutes before it died, showing de-extinction is possible. The Lord Howe fantail might be a candidate. Scientists would potentially use DNA from museum specimens. While it could possibly be a candidate for de-extinction, would it be able to survive on Lord Howe Island today? Much has been done in Lord Howe to promote conservation and fight the invaders. Groups like the Lord Howe Island Rodent Eradication Project, are seeking to find ways to eliminate rats and mice from the island. Here is a quote from the Lord Howe Rodent Eradication Project about the impact of rodents on the island and what they are working on to help the Lord Howe ecosystem. “The presence of exotic rodents on islands is one of the greatest causes of species extinction in the world. Rats have already been implicated in the extinction of five endemic bird species, at least 13 species of endemic invertebrates, and two plant species on LHI. Rodents are also a recognised threat to at least 13 other bird species, 2 reptiles, 51 plant species, 12 vegetation communities, and 7 species of threatened invertebrates on the Island. Seven of these species are listed as “Critically Endangered” under NSW and Commonwealth legislation. These programs complement significant achievements to date including the eradication of cats and pigs in the 1980’s, feral goats in 1999, and Myrtle Rust in 2018, a world-first. The Protecting Paradise Program was the Gold winner of the 2018 Banksia Sustainability Awards and the 2018 NSW Green Globe Awards in the Natural Environment and Regional Sustainability categories. After more than 15 years of detailed research and planning, final implementation of the Rodent Eradication Project (REP) is almost complete.” Native birds were captured while rat poison was spread throughout the habitat. Once the rats had been poisoned, the captured birds were released back into the wild. These efforts worked well. Dogs were used to eliminate any remaining rats from the island. The last reported rat on Lord Howe Island was in August of 2022. If the Lord Howe fantail was reintroduced to Lord Howe Island, could it again thrive there? Maybe. Consider this. The Lord Howe woodhen population had been down to 15 individuals in 1980, but today there are over 800 birds.