New Zealand's million-dollar rat killing plan

New Zealand launched an ambitious plan to erase 200,000 islands in the Antipodes archipelago with a total cost of up to $ 2.6 million.

According to the BBC, the Ministry of Conservation named the project "Mice million dollars". The goal of this project is to kill rats and restore ecological balance on the Antarctic archipelago of New Zealand territory. The rat-killing expert team left Dunedin city on the South Island and is expected to remain on the Antipodes archipelago for five months when the helicopter drops bait to trap mice.

Hundreds of thousands of rats are ravaging the ecosystem on New Zealand's Antipodes archipelago.(Photo: Laurana Serres-Giardi).

However, the team admits that it is impossible for them to get on the island because the travel time coincides with the winter in the southern hemisphere and there is no shelter for humans on the island."This is really a limited trial challenge. An emergency doctor from Australia will accompany the team and at least 11 people will sleep in tents in the first weeks , " Stephen Horn of the New Zealand Preservation Department. , said.

According to Radio New Zealand, rats were taken to the Antipodes archipelago 820 kilometers southeast of New Zealand on shipwrecks in the 1800s and devastated ecosystems since that time. They are the culprits that wipe out at least two species of insects, destroying plants and natural ecosystems, forcing seabirds to breed on islands or cliffs with no mice living nearby.

The entire project will cost $ 2.6 million, including community grants and the International Wildlife Conservation Fund.