Rapid responses against invasive species on islands: lessons from the introduced Barbary ground squirrel Atlantoxerus getulus in the Canary Islands
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Rapid responses against invasive species on islands:
lessons from the introduced Barbary ground squirrel
Atlantoxerus getulus in the Canary Islands
F É L I X M . M E D I N A , M A R T A L Ó P E Z - D A R I A S and J U L I E N C . P I Q U E T
Abstract Despite efforts to combat invasive species, further increasing (Martín Esquivel et al., ) and the control of
measures are still required to prevent their arrival and some of them entails severe financial costs (e.g. Lampropeltis
translocation, especially into biodiverse island ecosystems. californiae; Gesplan, ). The archipelago lacks effective
Although many governments worldwide have already estab- control, rapid warning procedures for invasive species, or
lished protocols to control alien species, the European a legal framework to control movement of invasive species
outermost regions have yet to implement fully effective between islands.
prevention or rapid response procedures. The numerous The invasive Barbary ground squirrel Atlantoxerus
translocations of the invasive Barbary ground squirrel getulus, which is native to Morocco and Algeria, illustrates
Atlantoxerus getulus within the Canary Islands illustrate the situation. A pair of squirrels were taken to Fuerteventura
this problem. From to at least . individuals in as pets, and by the s the species had colonized
per year have been moved from Fuerteventura to other is- most of the island (López-Darias, ). In Spain the species
lands. If movements of these medium-sized vertebrates are is now legally considered an invasive species. Its possession,
taking place regularly, the number of smaller species trans- commerce and transportation are banned, although it is still
ported within the archipelago could potentially be greater. deliberately moved between islands. Here we review avail-
We argue that it is essential to implement stricter strategies able data (from the scientific and grey literature, and per-
for invasive species control in these remote biodiversity-rich sonal communications with reliable sources) on known
islands, including early detection and rapid response, to translocations of the Barbary ground squirrel in the
minimize impacts on native biodiversity. Canary Islands, illustrating the lack of mechanisms pre-
venting movement of invasive species within a European
Keywords Alien species, Atlantoxerus getulus, Canary
archipelago.
islands, prevention, rapid response, squirrels
From to there were at least confirmed trans-
locations (involving at least individuals; Table , Fig. ) of
Many governments have established guiding principles Barbary ground squirrels between islands. An additional
for the best cost-effective approach to counter problems seven sightings, two in , were not confirmed by knowl-
posed by invasive species, and some countries have already edgeable individuals. There was no clear temporal pattern of
developed rapid response strategies and early warning de- translocations (Fig. ), although they occurred in three per-
tection programmes (FICMNEW, ; DEFRA, ; iods: –, – and –. Most of the
Genovesi et al., ). For the outermost territories of translocations (.%) were to Gran Canaria, probably
Europe, European Regulation No. / on preventing because of its close commercial and touristic links with
and managing invasive alien species, establishes that the Fuerteventura. Gran Canaria is a transit nexus for most of
implementation of programmes is the responsibility of the archipelago’s commercial routes, and well connected
Member states. The regulation specifies that the require- (especially by sea) with Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. In
ments to control invasive species should be more restrictive addition, Gran Canaria is the most populated island and
in the outermost territories, and preventive measures or Fuerteventura is the main touristic island of the eastern
rapid response procedures should be adapted to the specific Canaries, which increases the probability of squirrel translo-
features of the territories. However, the regulation is only cations from Fuerteventura. Only a small number of trans-
being partly enforced in many of these outermost territories. locations have been detected to Lanzarote, even though it
In the Canary Islands the number of invasive species is is the closest island to Fuerteventura ( km distant).
Lanzarote’s human population is six times less than that
of Gran Canaria and, even though it is well connected to
FÉLIX M. MEDINA (Corresponding author) Servicio de Medio Ambiente, Cabildo Fuerteventura by sea, the ports are mainly resorts, with
de La Palma, Avenida Los Indianos 20, 38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary few resident islanders, and thus the likelihood of transloca-
Islands, Spain. E-mail felix.medina@cablapalma.es
tions is lower.
MARTA LÓPEZ-DARIAS and JULIEN C. PIQUET Island Ecology and Evolution Considering the strict controls in place at airports, it is
Research Group, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo
Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain most likely that squirrels are moved by sea. As the keeping
Received October . Revision requested January . of squirrels is illegal, it is unlikely that escapes will be re-
Accepted January . First published online May . ported by owners to the relevant authorities. On only one
Oryx, 2019, 53(4), 782–786 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318000200
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Oryx, 2019, 53(4), 782–786 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318000200
TABLE 1 All known confirmed and unconfirmed translocations of the Barbary ground squirrel Atlantoxerus getulus from Fuerteventura to elsewhere in the Canary Islands (see ID numbers in
Fig. ) during –, with date of detection or capture if known.
Date of
Year of detection/ No. of Other
ID introduction capture Location Island individuals information Source
Confirmed translocations
1 1996 La Isleta Gran Canaria 1 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
2 1997 San Fernando de Maspalomas Gran Canaria 1 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
3 1997 Lomo Blanco, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
Gran Canaria
4 1997 Telde Gran Canaria 2 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
5 1997 Cuatro Puertas, Telde Gran Canaria 1 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
6 1997 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Gran Canaria 1 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
7 1997 Monte Lentiscal, Tafira Gran Canaria 2 Euthanized Calabuig (1999)
8 1998 Barranco de Guayadeque Gran Canaria 5 Shot or trapped Calabuig (1999)
9 1998 9 Aug. 1998 La Lechuza, Vega de San Mateo Gran Canaria 1 Castrated & kept in Calabuig (1999)
captivity in CRFS
Tafira
10 1998 30 Aug. 1998 Cortijo de Pajonales Gran Canaria 1 Shot Calabuig (1999)
11 2006 8 Nov. 2006 El Cable, Arrecife Lanzarote 1 Trapped Authors’ data
12 2006 13 Nov. 2006 El Cable, Arrecife Lanzarote 1 Trapped Authors’ data
13 2007 1 Feb. 2007 Unspecified Gran Canaria 1 Trapped Fundación Neotrópico,
pers. comm.
14 2007 30 Aug. 2007 Unspecified Gran Canaria 1 Trapped Fundación Neotrópico,
pers. comm.
15 2007 5 Nov. 2007 Unspecified Gran Canaria 2 Trapped Fundación Neotrópico,
pers. comm.
16 2009 17 Apr. 2009 Batería de San Juan, Las Palmas Gran Canaria 1 Trapped Fundación Neotrópico,
de Gran Canaria pers. comm.
17 2014 Muelle de Santa Cruz de Tenerife Tenerife 1 Confiscated because il- Fundación Neotrópico,
legally transported pers. comm.
18 2014 La Lomada Grande, Garafía La Palma 1 Euthanized Authors’ data
19 2015 2 Aug. 2015 Punta Gaviota, Vecindario Gran Canaria 1 Photographed but Social network
never trapped or later announcement
Invasive species on islands
seen
20 2015 5 Oct. 2015 El Burrero, Ingenio Gran Canaria 1 Photographed but Social network
never trapped or later announcement
seen
21 2016 1 Sep. 2016 Punta de Gando, Telde Gran Canaria 1 Trapped & euthanized Authors’ data
22 2016 15 Nov. 2016 Juncalillo del Sur, San Bartolomé Gran Canaria 1 Found as remains A. Padrón, unpubl.
de Tirajana data
23 2016 Santa Cruz de Tenerife Tenerife 1 Trapped Fundación Neotrópico,
pers. comm.
783784 F. M. Medina et al.
J. L. Rodríguez-Luengo
S. Martín, pers. comm.
H. López, pers. comm.
S. de la Cruz, unpubl.
R. Gallo, pers. comm.
G. González, pers.
N. Migraine, pers.
& B. Fariña, pers.
comm.
comm.
comm.
Source
data
FIG. 1 The Canary Islands, showing the locations of all
information
confirmed translocations of Barbary ground squirrels
Atlantoxerus getulus during –. Numbers correspond to
Other
the ID in Table . White numbers represent the total number of
squirrels translocated to each island.
occasion (ID , Table ) was a squirrel confiscated at a port,
individuals
which demonstrates the laxity of control measures. As all
No. of
the islands in the archipelago are climatically suitable for
the Barbary ground squirrel (López-Darias et al., ),
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
the invasion of other islands is only a matter of time unless
effective procedures are applied.
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
When a squirrel is reported on islands other than
La Graciosa
Fuerteventura the relevant government body has to take ac-
Tenerife
Island
tions that require both financial and human resources not
specifically intended for the purpose. As there is no coordi-
nated response protocol, each public administration tackles
each detected translocation independently. In La
Palma insular government captured an introduced squirrel
shortly after its initial sighting, requiring h of trapping
and c. EUR , (ID , Table ). On Gran Canaria, after
failed attempts by the island government to capture two
squirrels introduced in , external professionals were
Cuevas Blancas
subcontracted by the regional authorities (at a cost of EUR
Punta Prieta
,) almost year after the original sighting. Following
El Confital
San Mateo
Los Giles
Location
hours of observation, questionnaires collected from
Amagro
detection/
capture
Date of
Unconfirmed translocations
introduction
2015–2016
2015–2016
2015–2016
2015–2016
Year of
Table 1 (Cont.)
2016
2017
2017
FIG. 2 Number of known, confirmed translocations of Barbary
ground squirrels within the Canary Islands per year from to
. Gaps between years indicate that no translocations were
ID
detected.
Oryx, 2019, 53(4), 782–786 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318000200
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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318000200Invasive species on islands 785
the local inhabitants, ha searched and h of trapping, translocated squirrels. MLD is funded by the Program Agustín de
they captured one squirrel (ID , Table ). Betancourt, under the identification Tenerife (P. INNOVA
-). JCP is funded by a Canary Islands Government PhD
The case of the Barbary ground squirrel is only one ex-
fellowship.
ample of the permeability of the sea barriers within this
archipelago. If larger animals can be translocated between
islands (e.g. the mouflon Ovis orientalis; Acevedo-
Rodríguez & Medina, ), it is probably relatively easy Author contributions
to translocate smaller animal species and plants. The costs All authors contributed equally to this research and article.
of removing invasive species in the whole archipelago are
unknown (controlling alien invertebrates on La Palma has
been estimated to cost . EUR million per year; García-
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