2024-08-25 09:37:28
Cape Town: There is a plan to kill rats in South Africa. Rats are so dangerous that a rain of ‘bombs’ will be made to kill them. These will not be real bombs but pellets containing pesticides will be rained. This will be done to save albatross and other sea birds on a remote island in South Africa. These rats eat these sea birds alive. According to the report, a flock of rats is eating the eggs of some of the most important sea birds in the world that nest on Marion Island, about 2000 km south-east of Cape Town. Apart from this, they have now started eating live birds. The birds that are in danger from these rats also include the Wandering Albatross, a quarter of whose world population nests on this island in the Indian Ocean. A conservationist Mark Anderson said in a meeting of the bird conservation organization BirdLife South Africa, ‘For the first time last year, rats have been found eating adult Wandering Albatross.’ Horrific pictures were shown in the meeting, in which the birds were covered in blood. The flesh of some heads was chewed. The Mouse-Free Marion Project said 19 of the 29 species of seabirds breeding on the island were at risk of extinction.
Thousands of birds die every year
Anderson said rat attacks have increased in recent years. But birds do not know how to respond to this, because they have evolved in an environment where there are no terrestrial predators. According to the report of news agency AFP, he said, ‘Rats just climb on them and eat them slowly until they die. It can take several days for a bird to die. We are losing thousands of birds every year due to rats.’
This is how rats will be eliminated
Anderson runs the Mice Free Marion project, which he describes as the world’s most important effort to save the birds. He believes it will cost $29 million, a quarter of which he has raised. 600 tons of rat poison pellets will be dropped by helicopter on the rugged island. He wants to attack it in the winter of 2027, when the rats are most hungry. In summer, the breeding birds are largely absent. Helicopter pilots will have to travel to every part of the 25 km long and 17 km wide island in extreme cold. Anderson says that we have to get rid of every last rat. If even one survives, it can increase the population again.