Watch: Malta’s Rat Population Increased By 13% Since 2018, Pest Controller Warns
Malta has seen an estimated 13% increase in its rat population since 2018, said a local pest exterminator, a significant growth which has been fuelled by the influx of foreigners and the current overdevelopment problem.
Exterminator Arnold Sciberras was questioned about the rat problem in Malta and whether he has seen a significant rise in the population of rats in current affairs TVM programme, Popolin.
Sciberras attributed the growing rat problem to the instability of villages, explaining that in “stable villages and homes with fixed residents,” the pest issue is quite low.
“The problem arises mostly when there is a change in residents, like for instance Sliema and St Julians, where you have many foreigners living in small, and sometimes inhabitable spaces,” remarked Sciberras.
He went on to say that the crux of the issue lies in the manner in which property is being developed.
“At one point we had houses with two toilets. Now, you have 70 toilets all connected to the same pump which previously catered for only two toilets,” continued Sciberras.
The exterminator explained that while residents may witness a few rats on their streets, there are hundreds more underground.
“The pest is dependant on the human, who ultimately is the biggest pest in the world,” he continued, while saying that he does not like to mince words and sugarcoat his sentiments.
Sciberras explained that from his experience, households with four people rarely have any pest problems, despite them having a garden. On the other hand, people living in confined spaces “like sardines” are the main cause of Malta’s growing pest problem.
When asked by Popolin host, Quinton Scerri, to give an estimation of the growth of the rat problem, Sciberras explained that while the issue had diminished during the height of the COVID pandemic, since people where confined in their homes, the problem has grown significantly since 2018.
He explained that five years ago, in Sliema’s Qui-si-sana, about 1,000 rats had been caught.
These figures have now grown by an estimated 13%, Sciberras said. “If one were to ask for the growth of the rat population since the peak of COVID, I would reply with a 50% increase.”
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