THE EFFICACY OF A TRACKING-EDIBLE ZINC PHOSPHIDE/MOLASSES GEL DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING ROOF RATS COMPARED WITH A TRADITIONAL METHOD

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbasiya, Cairo11566, Egypt

2 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Sahms University, Shobra Al-Kheima, Cairo

3 Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki ,Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

The present study was carried out as an attempt to overcome bait shyness developed by rats when they ingest sub-lethal doses of rodenticides. It depends on incorporating a rodenticide with a gel contaminant. Contaminated rodents would then ingest the toxicant during grooming and die. The efficacy of a tracking-edible zinc phosphide/molasses gel delivery system was tested through non-choice and free-choice laboratory feeding tests. In non-choice tests, the results indicated that the consumption of plain molasses gel equals 6.6% of the average individual body weight, while the consumption of the toxicant/gel bait equals 7.5% of that weight. The average daily amount of zinc phosphide ingested, in the form of toxicant/gel bait, was 68.4 mg/ a rat. Rat mortality was 75% over 2 days. In freechoice tests, the average daily consumption of plain molasses gel was 48.7% of that of crushed maize, and its acceptability was 32.9%. The average daily consumption of the toxicant/gel bait was 56% that of crushed maize. The daily mount of zinc phosphide ingested by individual rats was 21 mg/individual rat. This amount was sufficient to kill 50% of tested caged rats. The acceptability of the gel/ toxicant bait was 36.2%. The average daily consumption of 0.5% zinc phosphide/crushed maize bait was lower than the average daily consumption of plain crushed maize. The acceptability and mortality were 19.3% and 33.3%, respectively. The results of the present study indicate that the acceptability, against plain crushed maize, of the toxicant/gel was about twice that of the toxicant/crushed maize and that the mortality among rats exposed to the toxicant/gel bait was higher than that among rats exposed to toxicant/crushed maize bait.

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