麻豆淫院

A team of wildlife management specialists, environmental toxicologists and geneticists at the Conservation and Biodiversity Research Center, Edith Cowan University, in Australia, has found that some black rats living in Australian cities have developed a genetic mutation that potentially increases their resistance to the most popular poisons used to kill them.

In their study in the journal Pest Management Science, Alicia Gorbould, Quinton Burnham, Michael Lohr, and Annette Koenders sequenced the genes of nearly 200 rats from three species captured in several cities in Australia. The team has also presented its findings at the Australasian Wildlife Management Society 2024 Annual Conference.

In the 1970s, second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) were developed as a means to kill rats and mice. Such poisons work by preventing blood clotting, leading to internal bleeding and eventual death. Not long after they were put into use, researchers discovered that animals that ate the dead rats were killed, too, leading countries such as Canada, the U.S. and those in the European Union to ban them. Australia has continued to allow their use.

Prior research has shown that over time, rodents can become resistant to the poison due to genetic mutations that allow blood clotting even during exposure to rat poisons. In this new effort, the team in Australia wondered if rats in their country have developed such mutations that would increase their resistance to SGARs.

To find out, they obtained 192 rats captured and killed in four of Australia's biggest cities, with most of the collection taking place over the years 2021 to 2024. Testing was done using tissue samples collected from their tails.

Of the three species sampled, 108 were black rats (Rattus rattus). In sequencing the samples of this species, the research team found the genetic mutation, Tyr25Phe, which has previously been tied to coagulation in rodents, in 53.7% of the black rats tested, suggesting that black rats in Australia are well on their way to becoming immune to SGARs. In one city, Perth, 80% of the rats had the mutation.

The researchers note that people who use such poison to kill rats often increase the amount used when they find it becoming ineffective鈥攁n approach that will not work. This only puts other animals without the mutation at risk. They suggest that other methods be used instead, such as snap or electrocution traps. They also note that removing food sources is the best approach.

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