East Coast as far north as New York’s Long Island, with its venomous spines that are dangerous to touch. “There’s enough activity that there’s starting to be an industry,” said University of California, Santa Cruz research biologist Bernie Tershy.Ī new underwater robot is targeting the stunning but dangerous lionfish, which has spread over the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and up the U.S. “We have totally new tools that were just unthinkable a few years ago,” Genovesi said.Ĭase in point: There are companies that now market traps for wild pigs that are triggered by cellphones. It’s also one of the leading causes of extinction on islands, such as Guam, according to Piero Genovesi, an Italian scientist who chairs the invasive species task force for an international organization. Finding new weapons is crucial because invasive species are costly - $314 billion per year in damages in just the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, India and Brazil. Now, new technology is being combined with the old methods - weed pulling, trapping and pesticides. Sometimes, with no natural predators, they multiply and take over, crowding out and at times killing native species. Invasive species are plants and animals that thrive in areas where they don’t naturally live, usually brought there by humans, either accidentally or intentionally. Department of Agriculture’s wildlife services in Guam, where brown tree snakes have gobbled up nearly all the native birds.

“Critters are smart - they survive,” said biologist Rob “Goose” Gosnell, head of U.S. In the fight against alien animals that invade and overrun native species, the weird and wired wins.

Battle snake bomber bait