Rats to be freed on islands

A conservation researcher will release Polynesian rats on small islands to see how quickly they breed and disperse.

Auckland University doctorate student James Russell will free pregnant rats with radio transmitters on Clarks (Hauturu) Island off Whangamata, on Goat Island at the Leigh Marine Reserve and on Motuhoropapa Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

Conservation Department scientist Dave Towns said the department was putting about $25,000 towards the project to fill a gap in its knowledge about how rats behaved when they reached an island.

Mr Towns said the impact on wildlife would be minimal because the islands already had rats on them.

Intensive trapping, bait stations and dog control would make the islands rat-free before the project began.

- NZPA