New Zealand: hot summer leads to a tenfold explosion in rat population

A record-breaking long, hot summer has led to a tenfold explosion in New Zealand’s rodent population, with the country’s urban areas worst hit.

A ship rat attacks a fantail nest in New Zealand. The
country is committed to becoming predator-free by 2050. 

The 2017-2018 summer in New Zealand was the hottest since records began, and fertile breeding conditions have led to a surge in rat and mice numbers.

New Zealand has committed to becoming predator-free by 2050, wiping out all introduced species of rats, mice, possums and stoats in a mere 32 years.

If successful, it would be the first country in the world to be completely pest-free.

Read Eleanor Ainge Roy’s story from The Guardian - “New Zealand: hot summer leads to a tenfold explosion in rat population.”