Cat-Sized Rats in Florida: Gambian Giant Pouch Rats on the Rise in Florida

 Cat-sized rats were reportedly on the loose in the Florida keys. The African giant pouch rats also known as the Gambian giant pouch rats have increased its population despite efforts of authorities to eradicate them since 2009, according to reports.

Miami officials have raised their concern over the proliferation of these pests. Authorities warned that the growing population of the Gambian giant pouch rats is threatening to spread into the mainland and destroy crops in Florida.

In a statement by the exotic species coordinator for Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Scort Hardin, he said that they “thought we had them whipped as of 2009…. In the early part of 2011, a resident e-mailed me and said he saw one of the rats. We were skeptical but went back and talked to people and [saw] there were rats that we missed.” Hardin added that he “would not imagine there’s more than another couple of dozen at most. We’ve caught them all within a half-mile of each other… We think they have not moved far but they clearly reproduced.”

The African native cat-sized rats were reportedly brought in Florida keys by a local rat breeder. However, for unknown reasons, the Gambian pouch rats went off and gets into the wild.