According to a joint statement released by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the National Environment Agency (NEA), Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) and Jurong Town Council, the rat infestation at the hill is a problem created by the feeding of stray dogs.
The resulting food scraps have attracted rodents and encouraged their infestation, the statement said. The infestation had been “kept under control” due to measures such as fencing to keep stray dogs away from common areas, and notices to remind the public not to feed the stray dogs.
The statement also said the issue resurfaced in recent months due to “continuous indiscriminate feeding of the dogs in the area by feeders,”.
Pest Control Officers at site
Pest control officers were seen anchoring ropes to the side of the hill and climbing up to inspect rat burrows at the top.“First, we will carry out surveillance and also treat the burrows to eliminate the rats,” said Star Pest Control general manager Bernard Chan to local media, adding that the burrows are spread out across the top of the hill across an area half the size of a football field.
Mr Chan added that this could take three to five days to work, or longer depending on whether the rats take the bait.
Bait containing rat poison is placed outside the burrows. Concerns about the use of rat poison have been raised by some, as dogs have been known to accidentally ingest the poison.
Putting rats baits at the burrows
To this, Mr Chan said: “We have already thought about this before carrying out the procedure. The rat poison is not exposed. We made sure to only put the rodenticide in the burrows, so the poison is underground where all the rats are hiding.The stray dogs will not be able to eat the poison by accident.” The pest control operation is expected to continue over the next few days, he said.
Apart from placing the rat poison, the 22-man team led by him will also be carrying out a “search and destroy mission” by using nets and other rat-catching equipment during the night where the rats usually come out to look for food.
Media reported that about 15 rats have been caught during the operation, but by-standers at the scene say the total population might be in the hundreds.
Puppies caught at the area
In the operation to catch the rodents in their nests, a few puppies were believed to have been caught by the pest control specialists and handed over to AVA.Dog feeders were informed of this have been going around to raise funds to have the puppies released. TOC spoke to a resident who lives near the area, who said that the solution should not be just poisons and traps.
“They need to discover where the colonies of rats are and resolve at source.” He noted that the rats have been seeking food outside the slope because of scarcity and have spotted the rats around the walkway behind the NTUC at the station.
He further added that the dogs keep to the hill and do not disturb or harass residents, and any solution to the rat plague should take into consideration the welfare of the dogs.
It is also noted that the food provided by the dog feeders is likely not sufficient to sustain the rat colony of this size. Animals sent to AVA are usually put to sleep within days, some within just one day, if no one claims ownership of them.
Bukit Batok rat infestation: Stage 1 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 operation is expected to last a fortnight. "After these two weeks of the second phase, we will resume normal maintenance," Mr Chan said.
More rats caught in teh second phase
SINGAPORE: The second phase of operations to eradicate the rat infestation at Bukit Batok started early Thursday (Dec 25) with another 26 rats caught.So far, more than 230 rats have been caught since the operations to eradicate them started on Dec 18. Pest controllers, who have been monitoring the area, said they had identified six zones with active rat movements.
Four of the zones will be monitored from the nearby blocks, carparks, and the MRT station while the other two will be closely monitored on-site.
Infra-red motion detector cameras with night vision capabilities have already been installed to monitor the movements of rats at night. Pest controllers said it would take another two weeks before the entire exercise ends.
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