this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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That's an aspirational goal but there has been no practical methods proposed to actually achieve it. Good intentions are a start I suppose. I don't think anyone really thinks we can do it at this stage. It's openly stated that it would require as-yet unknown technology to achieve.
e.g. We could engineer something to kill possums, but the Aussies are gonna be straight up pissed at us for wiping out their marsupials, if (when) it crosses the ditch.
I would bet that it could be done. It might not be cheap or easy, but I bet that it could be done.
What I am more dubious about is whether:
It can be done at the kind of cost that is considered acceptable by the public. I don't see budget numbers in the article.
It could be done without wiping out other species. One small mammal is much like another small mammal to, say, a poison (which the article is talking about them using today). If you want to wipe out rats without wiping out something else, you're gonna need a pretty darn selective method of killing.
Rats can be kept out once killed off in New Zealand. Rats are pretty much everywhere, and they got there because they're pretty good at hitching rides. I can believe that they might keep them off a small island with little shipping traffic, but the main islands receiving shipments from around the world?
Good news! All other small mammals (other than bats) are also invasive!
Huh, I guess you're right. I'd thought that marsupials had made it to New Zealand, but I was wrong.