Key Learnings from Miramar Peninsula's Eradication

Thank you so much to James and Emma from Predator Free Wellington's Miramar Peninsula rat and mustelid eradication programme for coming to Waiheke Island on Wednesday to talk about their key learnings. For those who couldn't make it, our key takeaways were:

— Eradicating rats in an urban environment IS possible, with the whole community working together.
— It was a team effort with 20,000 Miramar residents helping with their eyes and ears to track down the last few rats.
— Removing alternative food sources e.g. rubbish is an important part of the programme so that the traps or bait stations are attractive to rats.
— Backyard community trappers had taken out 5,000 rats prior to the eradication starting.
— Multiple tools at very high densities might be required to catch the last few.

We are very privileged to have a close-knit community on Waiheke Island who share the same vision for our beautiful environment, as well as many dedicated backyard trappers who have been doing a phenomenal job for years. With your help, we can do this.