A party led by Heurtin, a French farmer (sometimes described as a peasant) from
Réunion island, on 18 January 1871 attempted to
settle the uninhabited 55 km2 island. After seven months, their attempts to raise sheep and cattle and grow crops were still unfruitful and they departed on 19 August, abandoning their
livestock, including five cattle, on the island. Over the next century or so a combination of factors caused further ecological devastation of the island, already affected by the introduction of
invasive species of plants and animals, as well as by unrestricted hunting, timber-cutting and
wildfire caused by
sealers and other visitors. The
Amsterdam duck and several species of
petrel became extinct, and the breeding population of the endemic
Amsterdam Island albatross, previously thought to be a subspecies of the
wandering albatross, was reduced to just five pairs. Once the native
Phylica arborea (syn.
Phylica nitida) forest was almost entirely destroyed, grazing by the increasing numbers of cattle prevented natural regeneration. The original five cattle grew to about 2000, which occupied an area of 3000 ha, at a density of 0.64 individuals per hectare. They degraded the breeding sites of Amsterdam Island albatrosses. The only part of the island the cattle did not occupy was the
Plateau des Tourbières, over 550 m above sea level. The population of Amsterdam Island albatrosses increased from 5 breeding pairs in 1983 to 26 in 2007. In 2018, the Amsterdam Island albatrosses recovered further and reached the number of 51 breeding pairs. ==Description==