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At the far end of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands lies Kuaihelani – also known as Midway Atoll – a small set of islands home to the world’s largest albatross colony. More than a million albatrosses return to Kuaihelani each year to breed. These seemingly pristine islands appear safe, but there’s a predator lurking among the seabirds.

House mice (Mus musculus) — the same kind that may be in your residence — have started to attack and kill albatrosses, eating them alive as they sit on their nests.

Wieteke Holthuijzen, a Ph.D. candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology, shares her research on the murderous mice attacking the albatross colony. Read about her findings at The Conversation.

UT is a member of The Conversation, an independent source for news articles and informed analysis written by the academic community and edited by journalists for the general public. Through our partnership, we seek to provide a better understanding of the important work of our faculty.

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Cindi King (865-974-0937, cking126@utk.edu)