Invaders Among Us: 35 Fascinating Facts about Invasive Species

Cats are known as both an invasive species and super-predators due to their ability to rapidly wipe out entire species of small fauna and they are only surpassed by humans.

27. Razorback pigs are an invasive species in the United States and are descended from domesticated pigs that escaped from one of the first Spanish explorations of North America in the 1500s.

28. In 1959, 3 goats were brought by fishermen to the Galapagos Islands. By 1970, there were 40,000 goats and by 1997, their population reached 250,000. That’s when the Galapagos Conservancy launched an all-out war against goats under the name Project Isabela, to save the dwindling population of Galapagos tortoises. Snipers were used to pick goats off from helicopters. It ended up restoring the population of the tortoises.

29. Ring Necked Parakeets are invasive species in Greater London Area, and there are over 30,000 of them apparently.

30. The Alaskan king crab is considered to be an invasive species in the Barents Sea (the Arctic Ocean between Norway and Russia). It is advancing southwards along the coast of Norway at around 50 km a year.

Macaques monkeys are currently an invasive species in a state park in Florida and they carry Herpes virus B which causes a form of herpes that leads to death in 40% of cases, and another 40% suffer brain damage.

32. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were revealed as specimens of the popular turtle pet species Red-eared Slider, leading to people keeping them as pets in Great Britain and causing ecological damage due to deliberate/accidental release. The turtle is listed on the IUCN's top 100 invasive species.

33. Georgia's state flower, the Cherokee Rose, is an invasive species from China.

34. The tree used for wood in Mesquite BBQ is an invasive species and a pest in Texas.

35. In the 1860s, a man named Étienne Léopold Trouvelot attempted to cross-breed gypsy moths and silkworms in his backyard. The gypsy moths escaped containment and ended up becoming a veracious invasive species that cannot be controlled.