A plan to release pregnant rats on to inshore islands where they will give birth to up to 50 young has angered some Whangamata residents.
Alan Foggie, of the Whangamata Ratepayers' Association, said the research, a partnership between the Department of Conservation, Landcare Research, and Alaskaand Auckland universities, endangered seabirds and there was a risk the rats would invade the town.
Clark (Hauturu) Island, one of the islands involved in the rat study, was just 80m off Whangamata Beach, he said, and the Norway rats involved in the project could swim 600m.
Mr Foggie questioned why a university graduate needed to research rat breeding.
"I can already tell him, they breed like rats."
But DoC and Auckland University said only islands with rats already on them would be involved in the study.
The five-year project by Auckland University PhD student James Russell has Foundation of Science, Research and Technology and DoC funding. A single rat fitted with a radio transmitter would be released initially to test the effectiveness of the equipment before the pregnant females were released, said Auckland University associate professor of ecology Dr Mick Clout.
He was confident all the rats could be eradicated once the project finished in 2008.
"It's about learning about rat behaviour with a view to keeping a lot more islands rodent-free," he said.
The females will be allowed to give birth and breed naturally for a season, producing up to 50 rats.
The rats would then be caught using live traps in "controlled eradication and reintroduction experiments", said DoC spokesman Dave Towns.
All introduced rats would be genetically "fingerprinted" so those not related to the original pregnant female could be identified.
As well as Clark Island, Motuhoropapa in the Noises group would be used plus another island which DoC is still negotiating over.
All three islands are privately owned. Hauturu is owned by local iwi Ngati Pu.
Rats
New Zealand has three types of rats:
Pacific rat or kiore (Rattus exulans), introduced by early Maori, found only in Fiordland, Stewart Island and offshore islands; eats birds' eggs and chicks, insects, lizards.
Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), largest of the three, expert swimmer, good climber; eats small animals, eggs, young birds.
Ship or common rat (Rattus rattus), feeds on ground-nesting birds and young, also lizards.
