Efforts to remove cats from Macquarie Island, a sub-Antarctic island and World Heritage Site, have indirectly led to environmental devastation, according to a report published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
The removal of cats has led to a boom in the island's rabbit population -- another species introduced by humans -- causing widespread devastation to the island's vegetation.
According to the study's lead author, Dr. Dana Bergstrom of the Australian Antarctic Division: "Satellite images show substantial island-wide rabbit-induced vegetation change. By 2007, impacts on some protected valleys and slopes had become acute. We estimate that nearly 40 percent of the whole island area had changed, with almost 20 percent having moderate to severe change." 
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