Food compounds used for long-life rat lures

A group of compounds commonly found in foods will be used to create long-life rat lures that could boost efforts to rid New Zealand of the rodent pests. Photo / Nga Manu Nature Images

A group of compounds commonly found in foods will be used to create long-life rat lures that could boost efforts to rid New Zealand of the rodent pests.

Victoria University researcher Michael Jackson, who has received a $360,000 Government grant for his project, said foods like peanut butter, chocolate and cinnamon had long been used to lure rats and other pest species.

But these foods also happened to be perishable and only attractive for a few days, meaning more cost and time to keep monitoring devices and traps replenished.

He and colleagues have pin-pointed five chemical compounds found in a variety of foods that were attractive to rats and had the potential to be developed into low-cost, easy-to-use products.

"There are many options for how these compounds could be dispensed, such as aerosol sprays, emulsions or aromatised plastic blocks," he said.

"We will carry out trials in different devices, and in both urban and forest environments, to help us determine the best option."

The project's ultimate aim was to develop a product that ensured traps would be consistently attractive over a long period, without the need for human intervention.

"The lures will also be easy to handle and store, cost-effective, and able to be manufactured on a large scale."

Wild rodents were a significant pest issue internationally, and a new tool to lure rats offered a substantial export opportunity for New Zealand, he said.

"Rats are a problem not just for conservation but also for agriculture, food storage and processing, and human and animal health.

"In Asia, for example, the estimated rice lost every year to rodents could feed about 200 million people.

"Rats also transmit diseases like leptospirosis and salmonella."

The funding was awarded through the Department of Conservation's Tools to Market programme.

Other recipients were Landcare Research projects to extend a Norway rat-specific pesticide, and to evaluate the potential sensitivity of native birds to bait containing para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) to support the toxin's development for aerial stoat control.

The fund has $2.8 million to allocate over four years and another Tools to Market funding round is expected later this year.

"The funding gives that extra push to promising projects already in the pipeline to help make them safer, more cost effective or to enlarge their scale," Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said.

"These projects and the impressive groundswell of community groups joining the predator-free movement will be invaluable as we head towards our 2050 goal."