Guam is getting a $230,000 federal grant to support its brown tree snake research and control program through the end of the year.
The U.S. territory’s Department of Agriculture will use the money to maintain about 700 traps to continue its native species recovery efforts.
Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas Tony Babauta said today in a Washington news release that the unintended introduction of the brown tree snake to Guam has had a devastating impact on native species.
Brown tree snakes hitched rides to Guam from their native Solomon Islands aboard military transportation during World War II. Since then, the snakes have wiped out 10 of 12 bird species on the island.
Officials fear the brown tree snake may one day make its way to Hawaii.