A strategy to improve rodent control while reducing rodenticide release into the environment

Abstract

In addition to having a negative impact on the health of people and domestic animals, rodents often cause enormous damage to the environment by disrupting natural biodiversity. The negative impacts of rodents in urban and rural areas have required intensive use of rodentcides in spite of the proven risk of secondary poisoning of non-target predators and scavengers. Continuous and intensive use of rodenticides has led to environmental pollution through their retention in the environment. Commensal rodents are predominantly managed with anticoagulant rodenticides, which are very persistent in the environment and move up the food chain and accumulate in the bodies of predators and scavengers. Generally, the use of anticoagulant rodenticides continues, and there is a need to take appropriate measures to reduce their harmful impact. The efficacy of second generation anticoagulants (bromadiolone, difenacoum and brodifacoum), combined either mutually or with chlorophacinone at reduced doses (0.001 % and 0.0008 %), in controlling brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) was tested in a four-day no-choice feeding test. Combinations of second generation anticoagulants were more effective than the combination of chlorophacinone and second generation anticoagulants. The results indicate that combinations of different anticoagulants at multifold lower doses than the standard may provide a successful tool for brown rat control and a more environment-friendly method of rodent control and protection of non-target animals.

Keywords: Anticoagulant combination; Environment-friendly; Non-target; Rattus norvegicus; Reduced dose; Rodenticide.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

Survival period in ten groups of animals fed on ten different anticoagulant combinations.