Last spring, Lincoln Park's beloved pair of Great-horned Owls and their owlet died one after another. Tests confirmed that all three died from eating poisoned rats.

This has been an ongoing problem within the City of Chicago, which relies on rodenticides to control the ever-growing rat population. Poisoned rats have been eaten by birds of prey and other predatory animals, who in turn have become poisoned.

To combat this crisis, we’ve has teamed up with several partners that include scientists at Lincoln Park Zoo, Wisdom GoodBites, Alderman Timmy Knudsen of Chicago’s 43rd Ward, and Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) to conduct a contraceptive pilot program as a safer alternative to rodenticides: rat birth control pellets.

The City of Chicago has agreed to work with us to run a pilot study near Lincoln Park using these pellets. The results of the pilot will be shared with DSS Deputy Commissioner Gloria Pittman. The funding goal has been reached, and volunteers are currently covering the four-block walk once every two weeks, checking two containers per block.

Use the navigation on the left to learn more about the pilot program.

Banner photo by Russ Smith.