If Rapu senses something is wrong, he signals his trainer, Sally Bain
Rapu, a Border Terrier mix, has a Vital Mission: scouring the islands of New Zealand for any sign of rat infestation.
Rapu, one of four New Zealand government-certified detective dogs, is to infiltrate areas where rats are thought to have been handled, such as over 300 islands are already considered predator-free.
It “sniffs out all the treacherous ones,” explained its owner, Sally Bain, who lives in Wellington.
“ I actually really like rats, — she said. “My son had a pet. Big personality.
But the 49-year-old's love for rodents is outweighed by her passion for protecting New Zealand's unique and endangered native species.
Ms Bain's Rapu plays a critical role in the Predator Free 2050 movement, a government initiative with broad community support that aims which is to kill all rats, possums and stoats in the country by 2050.
The survival of the kakapo species depends on the destruction of rats and other small predators in the country. Photo: Robin Bush
If Rapu smells a rat, he gives a signal to his trainer. Ms. Bane rewards him with a treat and uses the GPS to record the exact location for her terrain report. Then another team appears with traps and poison to destroy the invaders.
The explosive rate of rat reproduction makes Rapa a very valuable dog. If a pregnant rat swims onto an island, or a bird of prey dumps it where it shouldn't be, the native rodent population can swell into the thousands within a year.
The more rats, the harder it is to suppress them. And the more damage is done to the local wildlife.
Native species of New Zealand include the flightless kiwi and the kakapo, the heaviest parrot in the world.
Thanks to the country's isolation, birds have most of the 85 million years evolved without mammalian predators. The survival of both species now depends on the extermination of local rats and other small predators.
Polynesian rats first came to New Zealand with the Maori about 700,000 years ago. Ship and Norwegian rats arrived as stowaways with Europeans in the 1800s. All three species feed on birds, eggs, chicks, lizards, insects, and a variety of plants.
Rapu plays an important role in the Predator movement Free 2050
Rats, opossums and stoats are the main reasons New Zealand's nearly 4,000 native species are endangered, said Brent Beaven, senior manager of the Department of Conservation's Predator Free 2050 program.
«If we didn't control predators, many local wildlife populations would have become extinct in less than two years. generations of people,” he said.
Since the launch of Predator Free 2050 in 2016, over a million additional hectares have been reclassified as predator suppression land. In 2020, the 250-hectare island in Hauraki Bay was officially declared predator-free. This work builds on previous conservation efforts and, in the case of some islands, luck.
In New Zealand, generations of volunteer rat-catchers patrol their yards, farms and public lands to help suppress rodent populations. Predator Free 2050 helped popularize but didn't start a culling trend. Currently, over 5,400 community groups are monitoring the trap lines across the country.
Dr Ellie Palmer, a sociologist at the University of Auckland, studies how people respond to conservation efforts. She said that New Zealanders readily accept that some species must die so others can live, and that she suspects «incredibly few» people are opposed to killing rats. .jpg» />Native birds like the kiwi have spent most of their 85 million years of evolution without mammalian predators. Credit: Chris McLennan/Alami
However, some people have ethical concerns, says Dr. Palmer, such as the use of poisons.
The poison, known as 1080, is by far the most effective treatment for rats, opossums and stoats in remote wilderness areas, according to the Department of Conservation. Unfortunately, death by 1080 will be slow and painful. The poison is also non-selective, meaning native birds and pets can become collateral damage.
Scientists around the world are developing more humane ways to kill rats, including through gene editing. But genetic modification is another sensitive topic in New Zealand, which is currently one of the few countries where the practice is illegal in most cases.
Ms Bain, a dog handler, spends more time than most of the others, in places where there were predators. deleted successfully. She describes the birdsong, dense forests, and actual birds she encounters as evidence that native species are indeed bouncing back. «It's about saving, not killing,» Ms Bain said.
However, she added that rats might be winning the war, citing rising temperatures leading to an increase in the country's population.
For Ms Bain and others on the front lines of New Zealand's rat war, Predator Free 2050 is a journey, not a destination.
«We humans have done so much harm [by bringing animals like rats] to New Zealand, the least we can do is clean it up a bit,» she said.
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