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THE PUBLIC HAS been asked to report any sightings of coypus after one of the rat-like rodents was seen in Cork city last week.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has trapped 10 coypus in the Curraheen area of Cork since a sighting of the rodent two years ago.
A three-foot coypu was previously found swimming in a Tipperary river. The rodents are native to South America and it’s believed they may have been released into the wild here after being brought to Ireland as pets.
The latest sighting, along the River Lee, was first reported in the Irish Examiner.
Danny O’Keeffe of the NPWS told TheJournal.ie coypus “can cause a lot of damage”.
“They burrow into river banks, drainage banks, and create an elaborate tunnel system. This undermines these structures and left unchecked they can cause a lot of damage.
“They can destroy food crops especially root crops, and they can eat birds eggs. Furthermore when they become established it can be costly to eradicate. They have been successfully eradicated in the UK and are currently a major problem in Italy,” O’Keeffe said.
Anyone who thinks they have seen a coypu has been asked to contact the NPWS.
With reporting by Gráinne Ní Aodha
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Typical Cork people can’t just have a rat problem, has to be more exotic and better than anyone else down the people’s republic! (jokes)
@Brown Boots: for a minute there I thought they were talking about Enda
@Tony Skillington: I don’t even know what you were trying to say ???
I see a random reference to enda. But absolutely no context! #bizarre
@TradingDuck:
Actually there work rate is slipping, there was an article recently about a boy who bought a cow with his communion money and the last time I checked, no one had blamed Enda.
@TradingDuck: the clue is in the headline..
@P.J. Nolan: was it Enda who bought the cow… Guaranteed that lad still has his communion money and the same haircut!
@Brown Boots: ha ha….love it…from a rebel !!
I saw a load of them in Leinster House. They are usually seen from Tuesday to Thursday.
@Tony Daly: brilliant. Cutting edge comedy
Ha ha, something about rats and TDs ha ha.
I’m hilarious.
Don’t transfer any responsibility for identifying or numbering these rodents to An Garda Siochana. If that happens there will be millions of these rodents.
Responds to the name ‘Langer’ seemly
Seriously. Good example of the damage alien species invasion does. Need an exotic pets registration law and licence with annual renewals and fines for non-compliance.
How did they get here?
@Daniel Wilson: immigrants again! I blame the EU myself! Taking river banks and the place of Irish rats! Probably sending all the trash etc they get home too, not using it here!
@Brown Boots: First port of call should be the Fail
@Alan Scott: First port of call should be the Dail
@Daniel Wilson: most likely escaped from petting farms
@Carlin Ite: why would anything escape from a petting zoo!!!
@Carlin Ite: like heavy petting?
Adorable little creatures.
Just introduce a bunch of snakes to control the population.
@Crocodylus Pontifex: Yeah,anacondas will soon sort them out…
@Seamus Mc Meel: and then a few caimans into the Lee to sort out the anacondas
@Crocodylus Pontifex: What Soros and Kissinger lol.
Kind of cute. They look more like a beaver than a rat.
@Rochelle: Yeah poor fella was thinking the same!
Politics dragged into everything on this website.
I’ll get the obligatory shite political comment out of the way….ahem…rat like rodents that can cause a lot of damage!? Sure they’d be right at home in the Dáil lol.
Never thought I’d say that a rat of any description was cute, but the one in the video scratching itself is quite comical to watch . . . It seems perfectly at home in the Irish environment.
Oh good god !!!! This is the stuff of my nightmares !!! Not only is there rats now we have three foot rat like creatures !!!!!!!!! Hairy South American Bast..s !!!
rats out
Bigger rats than them knocking round. Can typically be found in a place called Leinster house
What sort of Moran gets three foot rats and releases them into the wild to breed? They should be prosecuted!
Ooh these are adorable. Can we keep them?
“They damage river banks ” Next time ESB flood Cork it will be ,you have guessed it ” Giant Rats”
Strip them of there residency and deport them
What happens to the one’s that are trapped?
@Mick: they are humanly killed with a gun.
What constituency does it represent?
A significan section of Cork was always Fianna Fail country. These lads are just working on the Jack Lynch Tunnel extension.
Wow a Joan Burton article we can comment on.
@iMoan Brutal: http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/katherine-zappone-budget-2018-childcare-3388779-May2017/
Look at it!!! There’s nothing coy about that feckers puss !!! Shudder !!!
So they eat a few roots Harmful to the environment What a load of crap Guessing not as destructive as horse fires What next cull the fire startersThey are omnivores so they won’t be eating your discarded pizza and kebabs anytime soon Sure there is a lot worse flowing into our rivers
Next we have every bored idiot with a gun or snare out killing anything that resembles one of them Lap dogs beware Don’t go down to the river
This is a bit scary. They don’t look scary but they carry scary diseases. So imagine your 12 year old finds one and decides to take it home with them. Not that 12 year olds are allowed walk down a road alone any more…but just imagine……eeeeeekkk it’s like the killer rabbit from The Holy Grail.
The pelts from these vermin are being touted as “guilt free” fur. Currently a lot of designers are experimenting with it and using it as fur lining inside garments.. Proper order too. I hate rats.
I think they are kinda cute. Not sure I’m ok with them just being killed.
I used to see these all the time in the Norfolk Broads as a kid. They were originally brought to the UK to be farmed for their pelts but escaped. Farmers were especially keen to trap and kill them because they do indeed enjoy a good root vegetable.
Right, that’s it, I’m leaving the country. Terrifying.
WHAT!!!!!!!! Irish Politicians have escaped from Leinster House and taken up residence in a River in Cork…..
How many beef burgers can you make out of him lol.
There’s a load of them in Leinster house ..
@James Harbourne: T.D’s or Capybara’s?
Nothing a shotgun and a barbecue can’t handle…..
Who was the moron who get this as a pet. Some people just need to be horse wiped.
@prop joe: I think they were imported by fur farms.
Not Enda again?
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