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The unique bird and reptile species that make the Galapagos Islands a treasure for scientists and tourists must be preserved, Ecuadorean authorities said – and that means the rats must die, hundreds of millions of them.
A helicopter is to begin dropping nearly 22 tonnes of specially designed poison bait on the islands, launching the second phase of a campaign to clear out by 2020 non-native rodents from the archipelago that helped inspire Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The invasive Norway and black rats have critically endangered bird species on the 19-island cluster 600 miles from Ecuador's coast.
Irish Independent
Pictured: **STRICTLY NO WEB/NO MAIL ONLINE/THE SUN/ASSOCIATED NEWSPAPERS/NY DAILIES**Bono watches the ceremony with his wife Alison "Ali" Hewson
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