Estate Living Magazine Connection - Issue 43 July 2019 | Page 43

C O M M U N I T Y
L I V I N G
‘It also suggests, in the case of otters, that polluted water run-off
from urban areas could transport the poisons into Cape Town’s
waterways and the aquatic food chain,’ said collaborator Dr Nicola
Okes.
The results of the study echo the growing pesticide threat to
biodiversity globally. Poisons used in and around urban and
agricultural areas often kill species indiscriminately and can impact
the ecosystem.
‘There is mounting evidence globally that rat poisons are a critical
threat to wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. To
really understand this problem locally has taken support from the
public, from SANParks and the City of Cape Town in reporting the
locations of animals hit by cars so that they could be included in our
study,’ said Bishop.
Serieys, a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles,
is doing her postdoc with Bishop. The two met in 2013 during a
conservation genetics workshop in the Kruger Park and discussed
her dream to work on urban cats in South Africa.
Together they developed the framework for the Urban Caracal
Project, making use of multiple methods to understand how these
predators persist in the rapidly urbanising landscape of Cape Town.
‘The caracal is one of the flagship species for iCWild,’ said Professor
Justin O’Riain, director of the institute.
‘It is one of only a few medium-sized wildlife species that persist
in and around urban and rural landscapes, benefiting from the
absence of apex predators and access to prey that feed on the
abundant food in these environments. Unfortunately, this bounty is
coming at a cumulative cost.’
One of the most significant findings of the study is that exposure
occurs at all ages. Several lactating female caracals were sampled
in the study and found to have been exposed to rat poisons,
suggesting that kittens may be exposed through their mothers’ milk.
The project has also garnered international interest from researchers
wanting to contribute to the research team’s efforts to identify the
many threats to Cape Town’s caracals, and strategise effective
conservation of these elusive cats.
The researchers hope that their study’s findings will stimulate a
dialogue on how to reduce environmental contamination by rat
poisons and other toxins, and help pinpoint directions for targeted
mitigation.
‘As consumers, we need more eco-friendly alternatives to rat poison,
and the simplest solution is well within everyone’s reach – improve
the management of the waste that attracts rats in the first place.’
She added: ‘Coming up with solutions is relatively straightforward,
but implementing solutions, changing policy, changing minds, in
this case about waste management and the sloppy use of rat poisons,
these are the challenges that led to our forming the interdisciplinary
Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa.’
This article was originally published on University of Cape Town
News (news.uct.ac.za)
Helen Swingler
Photos Laurel Serieys
Bishop noted that there is also widespread public misconception
about rodent poison boxes, seen commonly in areas around the city:
the rats do not enter the bait box, eat the poison and immediately
die. They leave the bait box before the anticoagulant actions of the
poisons kick in, allowing them to re-enter the food chain.
The Urban Caracal Project has grown into a large-scale research
programme that sparks a lot of community interest, said Bishop.
Thanks to the project’s public outreach efforts, members of
the community can interface directly with the researchers and
contribute to their work by reporting caracal sightings and learning
about the project’s development through its Facebook page
(facebook/urbancaracal).
I
Rat poisons are widely available in supermarkets and hardware
stores, and as an option for pest control are often the only product
available. Mechanical traps are considerably harder to find.
The bigger picture
Rat poisons freely available
Postdoctoral research fellow Laurel Serieys with a caracal kitten.