City rats remain under-studied, researchers complain

June 21 (UPI) -- Rats are more than just a nuisance. They destroy property, taint food, start fires and spread disease. But researchers say rats are the least-studied wildlife in the city.

In a new paper published in the Journal of Urban Ecology, an international group of scientists and pest management professionals argue a lack of property access is preventing them from tracking, studying and combating the proliferating rat populations in cities around the world.

In order to track the movement of rats and the pathogens they carry, researchers say they need to install expensive scientific equipment in private residencies and businesses. Tracking technologies can help scientists analyze the distribution and behavior of rat populations.

Greater access to urban properties could also allow scientists to test new population control methods, the study's authors argue.

"They are the bane of urban environments, associated with poverty, disease, and fines by public health authorities," study co-author Jason Munshi-South, an associate professor of biology at Fordham University, said in a news release. "Business owners plagued with rats are reluctant to tell anyone, or to share their residences with researchers."

Scientists say one solution -- which is already being used by some -- is to trade extermination services for the rights to install research equipment in homes and businesses.

Still, more must be done if scientists are to keep up with rats.

"We neglect to study them at our own peril," said Michael H. Parsons, lead author and Fordham researcher. "No war has ever decimated one third of the human population. Rats have."