Oct 17 (Top 10s) – Twenty-five years ago, Japan faced a dangerous problem on the island of Amami Oshima: an invasion of highly venomous Habu snakes. The island was flooded and hundreds of people were bitten every month.
Although an antidote to the snake venom existed, it was difficult to access in the countryside, leading to numerous deaths and forcing many to leave the island.
In a drastic effort to control the snake population, scientists introduced mongooses, natural snake predators, to the island. These animals, known for their immunity to snake venom, were expected to eliminate the Habu snakes. However, the plan failed when the nocturnal habits of the Habu snakes and the daytime activity of the mongooses meant that the two rarely encountered each other. Instead of hunting the snakes, the mongooses hunted easier targets, such as rabbits and mice, while the snake problem remained unsolved.
The introduction of the mongooses caused unintentional damage to the island’s ecosystem. The fast-growing mongoose population threatened endangered species, including the Amami rabbit, pushing some to the brink of extinction. Efforts to capture and reduce the mongoose population have resulted in the removal of more than 35,000 mongooses from the island.
Although the mongoose plan was a failure, the number of snakebites on Amami Oshima has decreased significantly due to human intervention. Locals took matters into their own hands by setting traps and increasing the availability of antivenoms, reducing the number of fatalities from snakebites. Today, the island is still home to both snakes and mongooses, but the situation is much better controlled thanks to human efforts rather than imported predators.
