Ship rats <i>Rattus rattus</i> on the Shiant Islands, Hebrides, Scotland

Abstract

Abstract The ship rat Rattus rattus was once widespread throughout the U.K. It is now an endangered species with an estimated 1000 or fewer individuals present in the U.K. and the species is listed in the red data book for British mammals (Morris, 1993). However, it is listed under schedule 9 of the U.K. Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) as a non‐native species that should not be released into the wild.