Island life
Sporting Gun|March 2021
New Zealand ecologist Biz Bell is the scourge of rodents in remote places. She talks techniques with Ed Cook
Ed Cook
Island life

When you think of rat control it is hard not to envisage a man rocking up in a van, filling a bait box, and then disappearing until next month. While this may be all that is needed in some cases, it isn’t in every instance.

Some years ago I read about a team who eradicated the last rat from an island in Scotland. At the time, I hadn’t visited Scotland (how times change), but when the Isle of Canna rabbit project was awarded to us, I realised that this was the rat-free island I had heard about previously. The work had been carried out by a company from New Zealand called Wildlife Management International (WMIL). It specializes in island restoration – the eradication of invasive species, restoration of native species and habitats, and other conservation and ecological research projects. I recently got the chance to speak to the managing director, Elizabeth Bell, better known as Biz, who has travelled the world with her job.

Over the years I’ve heard a lot about your work, in the UK and elsewhere. Obviously, your workload and skills are varied, but how did you manage to kill every rat on an island – and why?

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