Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!csc!ccadfa!usage!basser!cluster!andrewt
From: andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: Ecosystemic Contamination (mongeese...)
Keywords: rain
Message-ID: <582@cluster.cs.su.oz>
Date: 16 Oct 89 04:14:11 GMT
References: <12248@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Sender: news@cluster.cs.su.oz
Reply-To: andrewt@cluster.cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor)
Organization: Basser Dept of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Australia
Lines: 10

>Although not a problem in North America, the mongoose was introduced in
>Hawaii to reduce the rat population about 100-200 years ago.  Instead, the
>mongooses decided they liked bird eggs better, and reduced the Hawaiian song
>bird population to some 23 species, ...

Is this correct? My understanding is the major factor in the decline
of Hawaii's endemic birds is thought to be the introduction of mosquito-borne
avian diseases.

Andrew