It sounds almost like a bad sci-fi novel: rats wipe out an interesting species on a large island, but years later scientists discover a tiny population surviving on a desert island. After two years of effort they get permission to take four individuals to attempt captive breeding. The first two individuals taken die shortly after leaving the island. The second two (dubbed “Adam” and “Eve”)
nearly die, but a last-ditch, guessed-at food supplement revives them. Not long after: now we have thousands of descendants of Adam and Eve. And now they'd like to reintroduce them back to the island where the rats killed them all. Fascinating story! Here's video of one of the these animals hatching – it's a giant walking stick insect:
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