City Sanctuary reaches another milestone

City Sanctuary has caught 5,000 rats! If lined up from nose to tail, 5,000 rats would stretch the distance from the Octagon to Knox Church.

We did it team! We reached another milestone with our 5000th rat being caught by City Sanctuary resident, Rosalind.  

Rosalind became a City Sanctuary supporter in 2022 after hearing that a neighbour of hers had signed up to be a backyard trapper. City Sanctuary team member Emily recalled that on her first visit, she realised Rosalind’s large property would be best suited for setting up several staff-managed possum and rat traps. Since then, Rosalind and Emily have been working together on trapping at the property. Rosalind’s expert observations paired with Emily’s trapping expertise have proved to be a lethal combination. Rosalind recently noticed rats running nearby the house and passed on that key information to Emily so she could reposition the traps. It was this teamwork that resulted in catching the 5000th rat! Together, they have removed a whopping 11 possums and 28 rats at the property! 

The number of possums being caught at the property is now trending downward and the impact has been tremendous. Initially, there were seven possums caught in the first six months but since then, there have only been two possums caught per year. The fruit trees on the property are once again fruiting well and birdlife is abundant. 

City Sanctuary currently has a network of 3,389 traps distributed across Dunedin. We have hundreds of people supporting us as backyard trappers and volunteers, or within community trapping groups.  Every milestone is a celebration of the collective effort of all our amazing contributors. We love our supporters! If you or someone you know is keen to support us, please let us know via the backyard trapper or volunteer sign up form.