In 1903, rabbits were released on Hawaii’s Laysan Island as a food source; within a decade they had nearly stripped it bare, and three of its five landbird species eventually went extinct
Laysan Island’s ecosystem was devastated after rabbits introduced in 1903 stripped away native vegetation When German immigrant Max Schlemmer brought a small number of domestic rabbits to the isolated Pacific atoll of Laysan in 1903, he hoped to create a profitable meat-canning business. He also saw the animals as a source of entertainment for his…