Bikar Atoll and Jemo Islet are classic island paradises from above: white sand beaches, clear turquoise waters and lush forests. But over decades, even centuries, the remote uninhabited islands in the North Pacific — part of the Marshall Islands — have been overcome by rats.

When Paul Jacques, project manager of US-based nonprofit Island Conservation, visited in 2024, both islands were crawling with them. “They were running everywhere,” he tells CNN. “If you walked around at night with a torch, it was almost frightening — the forest floor was moving with rats.”

The rodents, which are invasive to the Marshall Islands and likely arrived as stowaways on ships, have caused ecological chaos. They devour native vegetation and prey on baby crabs, eggs and turtle hatchlings. The islands, which

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