Invasive Animals on Remote, Unpopulated Island Topic of Monday Talk

Cattle on Chirikof Island, about 80 miles southwest of Kodiak Island. Alaska Marine NWR photo 

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

You may have heard of Chirikof Island’s roaming cattle. On Monday, staff members from the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge will give a talk in Kodiak about the island. 

Steve Delehanty is the Refuge Manager and is located in Homer. He says Chirikof birds and plants will both be topics of conversation, and Refuge employees are still working on the cattle issue.

“Maybe the most important new piece of information we have is an actual count of the cattle on Chirikof Island done from the air last fall. It is a little over 2000.”

He says they will also address plans for 2015 regarding the arctic fox population, which is not native to the island.

“We are undergoing an eradication effort like we’ve done on many islands across Alaska Maritime Refuge out through the Aleutians, for example, to try and restore bird habitat and make it a healthier place for wildlife and the native species of the island.”

You can hear about that and more at the meeting on Monday, April 27, which will be at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge’s downtown visitor center.