#MarineWildlife - Cork residents near the River Lee are urged to be report any sightings of coypu after one of the large rodents was seen in Cork city last week.
The invasive species was released within the last two years in the Curraheen River, a tributary of the Lee, with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) trapping 10 of the large river rats since then, according to the Irish Examiner.
But the NPWS now seeks the public’s help in identifying how far beyond the Curraheen they might have spread, with possible sightings on the Cork-Bandon road, at Monkstown on Cork Harbour and in streams north of the city.
The situation is a far cry from two years ago, when fears of a coypu invasion of Ireland’s inland waterways were dismissed upon the news of a single three-foot rodent found in a Tipperary stream, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.
Also known as nutria in the United States, the rodents are regarded as a destructive invasive species and pest, posing a threat to the stability of river banks and even coastal defences.
The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.
