Pacific rat Rattus exulans eradication by poison-baiting from the Chickens Islands, New Zealand

Published source details Parrish R. (2005) Pacific rat Rattus exulans eradication by poison-baiting from the Chickens Islands, New Zealand. Conservation Evidence, 2, 74-75.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Remove or control predators using lethal controls: Snakes & lizards Action Link
	Control mammalian predators on islands for seabirds Action Link

Remove or control predators using lethal controls: Snakes & lizards

A before-and-after study in 1992–1996 on a Pacific island off the east coast of North Island, New Zealand (Parrish et al. 2005) found that following Pacific rat Rattus exulans eradication, reptile abundances increased. After Pacific rats were eradicated, abundances of skinks, geckos (including the Duvaucel’s gecko Hoplodactylus duvaucelii) increased (no data are provided). Monitoring after the poison-bait was deployed revealed no signs of rats on the island. Rats were eradicated using aerial-deployed rodenticide bait on Lady Alice Island (145 ha) in 1994 (8 kg brodifacoum-impregnated bait/ha). Reptile monitoring started in 1992, two years before rat eradication and continued for at least two years afterwards. Skinks and geckos were surveyed using pitfall traps.

(Summarised by: Katie Sainsbury)
Control mammalian predators on islands for seabirds

A before-and-after study on The Chicken Islands, North Island, New Zealand (Parrish 2005) found that nesting success of Pycroft’s petrel Pterodroma pycrofti and little shearwater Puffinus assimilis increased from 20% in 1992-3 to 75% in 1994-5, following the eradication of Pacific rat Rattus exulans from Lady Alice Island (1.4 km²) in 1994. Rats were eradicated using brodifacoum-impregnated cattle feed.