A PHILANTHROPIST IN New Zealand has taken it upon himself to clear his city of unwanted vermin.

Gareth Morgan previously tried to eradicate ‘sadist’ cats to save rare birds, but now he’s targeting Wellington’s rat problem.

According to 3 News, the university students can claim a $7 drink voucher in exchange for a dead rat in an effort to ‘crowd-source’ the killing. Victoria University’s Science Society are behind the scheme, with Morgan on board to fund. Students will be supplied with rat trap, so basically all the hard work is done for them.

Beer Trap Beer Trap

The society’s president Jonathan Musther said it’s not all about the alcohol.

There are obviously people who get behind it for the drinks, the rewards, but then there are a lot of ecology students who are very passionate about trapping and very passionate about New Zealand native flora and fauna.

The man, the myth, Gareth Morgan

Morgan is more than happy to foot the bill in order to recruit the students as their “army”. He said it makes sense for students to use traps in their flats and the trade in for an ice-cold brew is just a bonus.

All rats collected will be frozen and used in future experiments.

However, Morgan’s cat cleansing didn’t go down too well when he campaigned last year, with many blaming it for the increase in rats.

There’s no evidence whatsoever for that. As I say, at most 20 percent of rats end up as a victim of cats.

The initiative was launched in student bar the Hunter Lounge yesterday, with 100 traps ready to be distributed.

But will it catch on? Speaking to 3 news, students said

The lure of freebies usually gets people along, but when they find out what they have to do they might be a bit deterred.You’d have to be comfortable setting a trap and dealing with a dead rat, so, perhaps.

She doesn’t seem convinced.

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