Eradication of Black Rats (Rattus rattus) from Curieuse Island

The project intends to eradicate Black rats (Rattus rattus) from Curieuse Island, Curieuse Marine National Park, Seychelles. An array of approximately 440 Goodnature A24 self-resetting rat traps will be the primary method of eradication, deployed using a dynamic mainland island approach, progressively eradicating from east to west. While this technology employs no toxic materials and has no rat welfare concerns, it is expected there will be small areas of the island inaccessible for trapping at the required trap density. Therefore, in these areas, it is intended to hand broadcast cereal block brodifacoum poison bait.
The aim is to not only remove rats from the island but also establish long-term biosecurity against reinvasion. This will halt IAS predator mediated decline in biodiversity, allowing natural processes to resume, and recovery of species and ecological processes.