New York City has set up a pilot project that will allow it to administer a contraceptive to rats through traps to control the population. Many denounce that rodents will have better access to contraception than American women.
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This alternative to rat poison was introduced following the death of the famous eagle owl Flaco, who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and was found with poison in his system. The settlement is named in his honor, since the bird had become a formidable rat hunter following his escape.
As part of the pilot project, the City will install rat traps in which there will be kibble which contains the contraceptive specially designed to alter ovarian functions in females and sperm production in males.
For the moment, only a few neighborhoods in Manhattan are targeted. Inspections will be conducted to determine the success of the initiative.
A similar program implemented last year was inconclusive. But several experts are hopeful that it will work, since the kibble is “irresistible to rats,” said Edita Birnkrant, executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS), an activist organization, in an interview. At Gothamist.
“I think we will see a dramatic drop in rat numbers. And I think we will also see an end to the unnecessary poisoning of wildlife,” she continued.
Strong reactions
On social networks, many denounced the fact that rats would have better access to contraception than American women who reside in certain states where abortion has been restricted.
«[…] It’s easier to gain reproductive rights as a rodent in New York than as a woman in most of the country,” one user wrote on X.
“Rats benefit from more comprehensive methods of contraception than what is commercially available for humans,” one person complained.
“I’m so happy to know that science has finally figured out how to develop contraception for men,” quipped another.
Three million rats
The presence of rats in the Big Apple is a real scourge. In 10 years, the rodent population has increased from two to three million rats, according to the most recent estimates.
The problem is such that the City’s Mayor, Eric Adams, appointed a “rat czar” last year, in addition to having organized a rat summit aimed at finding solutions to combat rodents.
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A brand new residual materials management policy was recently introduced in New York. Starting November 12, residents will be forced to put their trash in rat-proof bins rather than piling bags on the sidewalk.
— With reporting from Futurism, The New York Times, PIX11 and Gothamist
