Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
05-05-2026
SYDENY: Multiple parts of Australia have been hit with large numbers of mice, with farmers being forced to either shoot the animals or burn damaged crops, according to multiple reports.
According to 9 News, a number of videos posted to social media show massive swarms of mice along farmlands in Western and Southern Australia, while news.com.au reported on Wednesday, April 28 that some clips captured hordes covering an entire road and more rodents surrounding a grain silo.
The mice have reached high numbers in Western Australia and populations are increasing in the south, The Guardian reported, adding that scientists are now calling it a plague.
A population of 800 to 1,000 mice per hectare (an area of land equal to 10,000 square meters) is considered a mouse plague, according to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency. “We’re getting reports out of Western Australia of 3,000 or 4,000 burrows (or mice) per hectare,” CSIRO’s Steve Henry told The Guardian. “That’s real cause for concern. It’s a plague under any circumstances.”
Explaining the severity of the situation, the researcher, who specializes in mice populations and their impact on farming, added, “Mice aren’t like other problems that farmers have. Because, if you’ve got a drought, you can go inside, and close the door and switch on the air conditioner and get a bit of respite from it” but “if you’ve got a mouse plague, you go inside and the mice are in the house and you literally can’t get away from them,” Henry continued.
Farmers in the area, meanwhile, have already been facing weather and fuel challenges, per 9 News. South Australia recently experienced severe rain and floods, making it ideal for a mouse plague thanks to the warmer weather and increases in crops.
This could result in a huge loss for Australia’s crop exports to foreign countries. “This is another kick in the guts, not only for our farmers impacted, it’s the community; it’s anybody. Its small business, it’s supermarkets, it’s the baker,” Grain Producers Australia’s Andrew Weidemann told the outlet.
PEOPLE reached out to the CSIRO, Grain Producers Australia and the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for comment.
In order to combat the mice, farmers have taken “drastic action,” with 9 News reporting one farmer has tried “shooting mice on his property with a rifle” while another was “forced to burn the crops he had already grown after he found hundreds of holes burrowed by mice.”
According to the outlet, an emergency request has been made with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) to increase the poison in baits that can kill mice. That increase would “essentially make every grain of bait a lethal dose,” Henry told news.com.au.
In a statement to PEOPLE, the APVMA spokesperson said, “The APVMA has received applications for an emergency use permit for a higher-strength zinc phosphide product and is prioritizing those assessments. As with all emergency permits, the assessments are progressing as a matter of high priority. The APVMA recognizes that timely access to effective control options is critical in managing mice in outbreak conditions.”
“Under the Agvet Code, emergency use permits may be issued where there is a genuine and urgent need arising from an emergency situation. Any decision will be based on a rigorous scientific assessment of safety, efficacy and trade, including consideration of impacts on human health, animals and the environment,” the spokesperson continued. (Int’l News Desk)
