| [00:00.00] | Fortunately for the Stephens Island tuatara, |
| [00:03.04] | it did survive a brief mammal invasion. |
| [00:05.93] | But for some of the other wildlife here, |
| [00:08.14] | the invasion was rather more catastrophic. |
| [00:11.35] | The island had been uninhabited and largely ignored, |
| [00:14.68] | but that all changed with the construction |
| [00:17.38] | of this lighthouse back in 1894. |
| [00:21.45] | when the newly installed keeper,a Mr Lyall, |
| [00:24.98] | found an unusual wren on the island, |
| [00:27.57] | he sent a specimen to London for identification. |
| [00:31.19] | Like many island birds, |
| [00:33.16] | it was flightless. |
| [00:34.97] | And perhaps that's why it wasn't Mr Lyall |
| [00:37.86] | who first discovered the bird, |
| [00:39.69] | but his four-legged companion. |
| [00:42.15] | Tibbles proved to be a very efficient specimen collector. |
| [00:46.47] | So much so, |
| [00:47.57] | in fact, that one year later, |
| [00:50.16] | when the bird was officially declared a new species, |
| [00:53.20] | Mr Lyall had to regretfully inform the scientific community at large that |
| [00:58.11] | the species was now extinct. |
| [01:02.29] | In truth, |
| [01:03.06] | Tibbles wasn't the only feline to blame, |
| [01:05.38] | but the ease with which the Stephens Island wren had been dispatched was alarming. |
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