There is contention in Sweden over the use of rabbit cadavers as bioenergy to provide heat in Värmland. The rabbits are invasive species, initially pets that were released into the parks in the city of Stockholm. Lacking any natural predators, the rabbits thrive on vegetation, eating their way through the city's central parks. The culling last year set a local record with nearly 6,000 rabbits removed from Stockholm's parks, mostly from Kungsholmen. Some concerned citizens have formed a group, Vilda kaniners värn (Society for the Protection of Wild Rabbits, Google translation). They speak out against the culling and provide alternatives to killing the rabbits, citing methods used in Helsinki (including plant protection) as more humane alternatives. (Biofuel details and more after the break.) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Oct 21, 2009 - 47 comments

What do Kudzu, the Northern Snakehead, St. Johnswort, and the Air Potato have in common? They're all invasive species. USDA's National Invasive Species Information Center and the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health have got you covered. [more inside]
posted by Chocolate Pickle on Oct 20, 2009 - 40 comments

Brian D. Collier is attempting to teach the starlings to say the name "Schieffelin." [more inside]
posted by Knappster on Jul 25, 2008 - 19 comments

“They’re the ant of all ants...and are moving about half a mile a year.” Crazy Raspberry Ants! (And you might want to check your computer....)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth on May 16, 2008 - 57 comments

They keep doing this: 1869: European Gypsy Moth - thank you, Leopold Trouvelot! 1956: Africanized Bee - thank you, Prof.Warwick E. Kerr! 1957: Cactus Moth - thanks, unknown Caribbean cactus-hater! 1978: Asian Harlequin Ladybug (previously on MetaFilter) - thanks, USDA scientists! [more inside]
posted by Kirth Gerson on Oct 23, 2007 - 4 comments

100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species
posted by chuckdarwin on Sep 20, 2007 - 42 comments

Extreme aerial bowfishing!
posted by Terminal Verbosity on Aug 14, 2007 - 27 comments

It’s not the big fat radio collar around your neck that’s so bad. It’s not even being painted bright colors. It’s that every time you make a new bunch of friends, they all tend to die (146k PDF). Welcome to the life of a Judas goat (89k PDF), one of the worst jobs in the animal kingdom. Your naturally sociable nature make you ideal for leading sheep to slaughter or helping animal-control specialists find groups of your compatriots in rugged environments, where they proceed to shoot them—everyone but you—from helicopters. Of course, you then get lonely, so you go off and find another bunch and the process begins again.
posted by gottabefunky on Dec 8, 2006 - 16 comments

Cane toads in Australia. Zebra Mussels in The Great Lakes. Purple Loosestrife in Canada (and the introduction of another alien species to control it, I don't know why she swallowed the fly).

Invasive species, threat or menace? You decide.
posted by Capn on Feb 25, 2005 - 27 comments

Read this interesting article in Saturday's Globe and Mail about how non-native species are being introduced into the Great Lakes and throwing off the delicate balance of the lakes' ecosystem. Sea lampreys, zebra mussels, and the New Zealand mudsnail now thrive in the Great Lakes, after arriving via shipping in the Seaway. Both Canada and the US governments are undertaking measures to curb these alien animals. This got me to thinking; is it necessary to eradicate these newly-arrived critters, or are these invasions just another part of that dizzyingly complex web we call Nature?
posted by Jughead on Jun 6, 2003 - 21 comments

The Chicago River was essentially the city of Chicago's cesspool until the construction of the Chicago Ship & Sanitary Canal, which connected the Chicago River to the Mississippi Basin in 1900. Now there's serious talk of intentionally returning a section of the river to a cesspool-like state, by dumping untreated sewage and (possibly) toxic chemicals into the river. The purpose: to prevent invasive species such as the Asian Carp and the Round Goby from using this connection to cross between the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins. Is it ever possible to avoid unintended consequences in environmental engineering? And is it necessary to "go nuclear", so to speak, to try to correct them?
[Second link RealAudio; transcript here.]
posted by Johnny Assay on Mar 4, 2003 - 9 comments

Killer Carp Must Die! Biological control of invasive species is one solution, but I prefer to support small business. Forget about avoiding perverse incentives, just consider the aesthetic merits of hats over haemorrhages. Of course even the commercial solution can be ugly.
posted by stinglessbee on Sep 16, 2002 - 4 comments