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European Rats (Since 1769)

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Invasive Predators in New Zealand

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History ((PSWEH))

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Abstract

European ships carried two species of commensal rats—the Norway rat Rattus norvegicus and the ship rat R. rattus. Both originated in Asia, travelled to Western Europe with traders, and thence around the world on European shipping. Norway rats arrived in New Zealand first, possibly as early as 1769, and spread rapidly throughout the main and many offshore islands. For decades they were hugely abundant, adding yet more damage to that already done by Polynesian rats. The native ground fauna was seriously depleted, but arboreal animals remained relatively safe. Ship rats, by contrast, are agile climbers, so when they arrived in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, they replaced Norway rats as the most abundant rat in forests. The effects of rats on native fauna are clearly illustrated by well-documented data on their invasions of islands previously surveyed by ornithologists, from which the likely course of events on the mainland can be guessed. The technology of removing rats from uninhabited islands out of reach of re-invaders is now routine. The benefits of doing so are inspiring dreams of doing the same on the inhabited mainland, where rats are vastly more abundant and damaging than any mustelid.

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  1. Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Carolyn M. King

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Correspondence to Carolyn M. King .

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King, C.M. (2019). European Rats (Since 1769). In: Invasive Predators in New Zealand. Palgrave Studies in World Environmental History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32138-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32138-3_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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