Rats on the increase despite intensive action
A recent RTBF article reports a worrying proliferation of rats in Brussels parks, despite the city’s increasing number of control campaigns. According to this source, the City of Brussels has already carried out more than 260 targeted interventions since the start of the year. Yet you only have to walk through some of the capital’s parks to see rats in broad daylight, a sign that these animals are still very much in evidence. In other words, simply increasing the number of interventions does not seem to be able to stem the tide in the long term.
The limits of traditional approaches
This finding highlights therelative ineffectiveness of traditional rat population management methods when used in an ad hoc and uncoordinated manner. Traditional interventions often involve placing poisoned bait (rodenticides) or traps in an area identified as problematic, in response to a reported sighting. Although this approach may temporarily reduce the number of visible individuals, it does not treat the root cause and allows populations to recover quickly. The brown rat (or Norway rat) has a high reproductive potential: a female can have several litters a year (generally 3 to 5 litters in the wild, with 7 to 8 individuals per litter). The gestation period is very short (22 days) and sexual maturity is reached very early: between 50 and 60 days, which means that the group can regain its numbers in just a few months after a control campaign. As long as the environment remains favourable – presence of food waste, access to shelter – new individuals fill the void left by those that have been eliminated.
Lack of coordination and monitoring
Another problem with one-off operations is the lack of coordination and long-term monitoring. By multiplying isolated operations without an overall strategy, the result is a dispersed effect: an outbreak is treated here or there, but rats from neighbouring outbreaks may simply migrate to the treated areas when a vacuum is created. Each neighbourhood or park is often managed without centralised planning, which reduces the overall impact. In addition, repeated chemical treatments can lead to habituation to the type of bait used (reduced palatability) or the selection of strains resistant to the active substances, making traditional baits less effective over time. For example, of the 9 molecules authorised on the European market, resistance has been documented in 5 of them (see blog post on the efficacy, resistance and ecotoxicity challenge to come). To sum up, increasing the number of actions taken does not mean improving effectiveness: without a coherent, preventive approach, these repeated campaigns are like “scooping out the sea with a spoon”, with ephemeral results and an eternal repetition.
Considerable health, environmental and economic implications
Rats damage infrastructure, consume agricultural crops and contaminate food stocks, causing damage estimated at 27 billion dollars a year in the United States alone (1). Rats also harbour and transmit more than 50 zoonotic pathogens and parasites to humans, affecting public health worldwide. The most commonly associated diseases include leptospirosis, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, murine typhus, bubonic plague, salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis. Rats thrive in human-dominated landscapes, exploiting resources concentrated where human population density is high, particularly in urban environments. Consequently, rat population densities are likely to be higher in cities than in rural areas, with the potential to affect more people. The mere presence of rats also has a measurable impact on the mental health of people living in contact with them (2).
Municipalities and private owners have been trying to reduce the number of rats for centuries. Over the last few decades, efforts have mainly been made through the use of lethal rodenticide chemicals or traps, rather than through non-lethal options that would make the environment less conducive (for example, securing food waste and reducing habitats favourable to rodents). Worldwide, the control efforts associated with this “war on rats” cost around 500 million dollars each year (3). At municipal level, the strategies and intensity of these control efforts vary considerably from one city to another. Rodent control has to adapt constantly within cities over time, as priorities change, budgets and staff fluctuate, and new control products or approaches are introduced.
Rethinking strategy: towards a preventive approach
The challenge facing Brussels illustrates a more general problem in our cities: the need to move from a curative, one-off approach to controlling rat populations to one that is more preventive and continuous. Rodent population control must be anticipated rather than imposed. This is precisely why innovative new solutions are emerging, such as the one developed by Secu-Rat.
Secu-Rat: a connected solution for sustainable rat population control
To meet this challenge, Secu-Rat is offering an intelligent, patented device as part of a preventive approach. This connected solution is based on a targeted, monitored and proactive approach, in contrast to traditional methods. The key idea is toact as soon as the first individuals appear, to prevent the population from expanding. The system enables continuous monitoring of sensitive sites, triggering immediate action as soon as the very first rat is detected. By placing sensors under the litter bins, we can accurately monitor activity and intervene at source without waiting for an infestation.
The key advantages of the Secu-Rat approach :
- Early detection and rapid intervention: Thanks to connected sensors, the system can spot the first individual as soon as it appears. This continuous vigilance guarantees early control, before the rats become established.
- Reduction of chemical baits, use of mechanical trapping: The use of rodenticides has been greatly reduced, sometimes in favour of mechanical trapping, which is more environmentally friendly.
- Sustainable prevention: By preventing proliferation, the solution is more ethical. Fewer lethal interventions are needed, because the population remains under control from the outset.
- Real-time monitoring and field data: The solution is part of a connected approach. Managers have access toaccurate information and can adapt their strategy on the basis of reliable data, for intelligent management.
- IPM (Integrated Pest Management) approach: The Securat system complies with the principles of integrated pest management: prevention, monitoring, targeted treatment and ongoing assessment. It can be easily integrated into an overall rat population management policy.
Concrete, reproducible results
In practice, Secu-Rat transforms litter bins into intelligent monitoring tools. The device, placed under existing litter bins, prevents access to waste while detecting rodent activity. This innovative concept has already won over a number of towns and cities in France and abroad (Toulouse, Nice, Lyon, Rouen, Angers, Reims, Besançon, Selestat, Zurich, etc.), which have seen a significant reduction in the number of rodents on the ground. For example, in an urban picnic area equipped with five litter bins, the rodent population went from several dozen individuals being observed daily – to the point where litter officers refused to empty the bins for fear of bites – to a situation where no reports of rodents were received from residents or park users. Today, fewer than five individuals a year are captured using Secu-Rat devices, with these captures corresponding to animals in the recolonisation phase, intercepted before they settle permanently and reproduce. By relying on connected technology and a preventive strategy, Secu-Rat gives local authorities the means to control the rat population in a sustainable and ethical way, far from the ineffective reactive approach.
A necessary transition for cities
In conclusion, the continuing increase in the number of rats in Brussels parks, despite considerable efforts, demonstrates the need for a change of approach. Rather than endlessly multiplying curative actions with mixed results, it is more effective to opt for a connected and integrated strategy. The Secu-Rat solution is a perfect example of this new approach: thanks to intelligent surveillance, reduced use of rodenticides and preventive action at the first signs of a rat’s presence, it offers towns and cities a powerful tool for regaining the upper hand against rats. This shift to proactive rat population management could well represent thefuture of urban pest control, for public spaces that are not only safe for the public, but also for the environment.
REFERENCES CITEES
- D. Pimentel, Environmental and economic costs of vertebrate species invasions into the United States, in Managing Vertebrate Invasive Species (USDA, 2007).
- K. Byers, C. Himsworth, R. Lam, Beyond zoonosis: The mental health impacts of rat exposure on impoverished urban neighborhoods. J. Environ. Health 81, 8–13 (2018).
- C. Diagne, L. Ballesteros-Mejia, R. N. Cuthbert, T. W. Bodey, J. Fantle-Lepczyk, E. Angulo, A. Bang, G. Dobigny, F. Courchamp, Economic costs of invasive rodents worldwide: The tip of the iceberg. PeerJ 11, e14935 (2023).
