Prince Edward Islands

Declared a Special Nature Reserve by South Africa in 1995, Marion and Prince Edward islands make up the only subantarctic territory under South African sovereignty and support one of the world's most important breeding populations of grey-headed albatross, a species in steep global decline through incidental mortality in longline fisheries. In recent years a serious ecological problem has drawn international scientific attention: house mice introduced accidentally more than a century ago have begun attacking live albatross chicks directly, an anomalous predatory behaviour developed in the absence of other competing mammals, prompting an ambitious project to eradicate rodents from Marion Island entirely.