Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Washington
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The brown treesnake is an invasive species on the island of Guam and is responsible for the local extinction of much of Guam’s avifauna. Control of brown treesnakes is critical to conservation of the remaining native fauna and to the eventual reintroduction of many native species. Monitoring of brown treesnake populations will be key to informing control and reintroduction activities. Refinement of field and statistical methodologies is needed to provide information on brown treesnake populations, and this information needs to be fit within system models to inform both control and reintroduction activities. The U.S. Geological Survey Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit plans to undertake a multi-year collaboration with the U.S. Navy on Guam, in addition to the U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center, and U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS Wildlife Services, to develop methods for monitoring brown treesnakes and to fit that information within management models to inform both brown treeesnake control activities and reintroduction of native fauna.