Bukit Batok rat infestation: Stage 1 of extermination complete

SINGAPORE: The first stage of eradicating the rat infestation at Bukit Batok is complete, according to pest controllers working on the area. The operation had begun a week ago on Dec 18, and was initially projected to take longer due to rainy weather.

Mr Bernard Chan, manager of Star Pest Control on Wednesday (Dec 24) told Channel NewsAsia the first phase of the operation has concluded with "reasonable results". He said the rat population is now "under control" as only one camera out of 20 installed in the area has captured photos of rat activity.

Photos of rats were snapped between 7pm to 8pm on Tuesday. The infrared cameras, which were installed in areas of the forest where the rats are most active, takes photographs when movement is detected. At least one stray dog was photographed as well.

Mr Chan added that the team will be moving into phase two of the operation from Thursday afternoon. Pest controllers will monitor areas that did not record rat activity previously to ensure that the rat population does not migrate to other areas, he said.

"There will be 30 monitoring points using cameras or other devices, such as simple monitoring stations with non-poisonous food bait for the rats. We will deploy that in the evening and in the morning, if there are signs of the food being bitten by the rats, then we will know they are still present."

He added that infrared video cameras will be installed in phase two of the exercise. Phase 2 of the operationis expected to last a fortnight. "After these two weeks of the second phase, we will resume normal maintenance," Mr Chan said.

Link:
Bukit Batok rat infestation: Stage 1 of extermination complete