The world has been facing a rodent problem for centuries, it’s time for a shift in rodent pest management! The problem is severe in both rural areas and urban areas. In both cases rodents are the reason for a wealth of problems, related to agricultural production, ecological conservation, infrastructure damage and public health. Across the globe an average of 15% of agricultural yields are lost to rodents; in a time where we are striving to reduce food waste and increase the sustainability of our food systems, these losses are unacceptable.
In urban areas large populations of rodents damage crucial infrastructure and property, and they are a major risk to public health being carriers of over 60 different diseases. These highly adaptive animals have carved out a niche for themselves in the places we call home. Especially in poor urban neighbourhoods and slums this problem is huge, due to high interaction between rodents and humans, and insufficient hygiene and waste management. In all cases, conventional approaches to rodent management are proving inadequate. Misuse of conventional synthetic rodenticides has led to rodents building up resistance to them, while the synthetics are also harmful to non-target species. What do we need to do? We need thorough understanding of rodent ecology, behaviour and population dynamics. Grounded on this understanding, we need to deploy scaled biological and ecological methods.
MetaMeta has worked on this issue for the past 4 years. We have compiled knowledge on rodent ecology, behaviour, and management approaches. These approaches range from a fully degradable biological rodenticide to community-based and household level ecological management practices.
This 90 minute dives deep into rodent ecology and an overview of game-changing biological and community based approaches to managing these persistent pests.
