NP keeping on top of rats

Congrats New Plymouth district you’re keeping on top of the rats!

Posted on Thu 20 Jun 2024

Congrats New Plymouth district you’re keeping on top of the rats!

Julie and Tony Duff trapping volunteers v2

Results of our urban rat tracking monitoring are now in and while there’s been a slight increase on last year, we’re happy.

The goal is sustained control and we’re doing that – with numbers staying pretty stable over the past four years. A shout out New Plymouth District Council and its volunteers and all the backyard trappers doing the mahi.

We also monitored in Stratford (10% rats – lots of hedgehogs!) and Inglewood (30% rats) this year.

Zero rats at some spots? We wish! Our annual rat tracking is a one night snapshot, to give an indicative trend of what's happening. So yes on that night, no rats crossed our tracking cards at four of the 10 sites. 

Rats love hanging out near waterways and lots of bush with good food sources. In our NP monitoring, the higher numbers were at sites near rivers or streams – such as Herekawe Walkway (beside the Herekawe Stream) and Karina Rd in Merrilands, where there are a number of streams, wetlands and significant bush areas.

Trapping groups and volunteers are making a difference! The sites where volunteers regularly check and rebait traps, such as Rotokare Barrett Domain, Pukekura Park and Te Hēnui Walkway, all had the lowest rat numbers recorded this year.

While we’re always aiming to do better, controlling rats at or around the current level is enough to achieve biodiversity gains. 

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
Each April for the last seven years we place pre-inked and baited tracking tunnels at the same 100 locations across New Plymouth, Bell Block and Ōakura, mainly public parks and walkways. The next morning we return to check the cards. If a rat has entered the tunnel, it would have stood in the ink and left easily recognisable prints.