Nearly 1,000 nutria have been killed in the Bay Area this year alone. Wildlife officials are asking people to report these invasive, 2.5-foot-long rats because they have been seen on camera in Contra Costa County and are a threat to an important watershed.
The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report the find in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Krysten Kellum, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Bay Delta Region, and Matthew Slattengren, the agriculture commissioner for Contra Costa County, both confirmed it to SFGATE.
Hearst owns both The Chronicle and SFGATE, but their newsrooms are different.
Many people are worried about the rodents’ appearance because they cause so much damage. They will find it easy to move on to other areas now that they have made it into the delta, which helps move water to cities and farms across the whole state.
Slattengren wrote in an email that once they get there, they will keep destroying wetland habitat, destroying crops in large numbers, and “weaken levees to the point of failure” through their burrowing.
The San Francisco Chronicle was the first to report the find in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Krysten Kellum, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Bay Delta Region, and Matthew Slattengren, the agriculture commissioner for Contra Costa County, both confirmed it to SFGATE.
Hearst owns both The Chronicle and SFGATE, but their newsrooms are different.
Many people are worried about the rodents’ appearance because they cause so much damage. They will find it easy to move on to other areas now that they have made it into the delta, which helps move water to cities and farms across the whole state.
Slattengren wrote in an email that once they get there, they will keep destroying wetland habitat, destroying crops in large numbers, and “weaken levees to the point of failure” through their burrowing.
Five hundred forty-four nutria have been killed in California since March 2017, when a pregnant female was found at a private pond in Merced County.
This was the first time the species was seen in the state. After a year, two of the orange-toothed animals were seen just outside of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and the agency got ready to do a full scan of the area.
At the time, Peter Tira, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told SFGATE, “We cannot have nutria reproducing in the delta.” “Too much damage is being done to California’s economy.”
KELUM said that one or two nutria came through Contra Costa County for the first time last year. On August 15, two of them were found near Dutch Slough, south of Sherman Island, where a family group had been seen in 2022.
The agency then went on the hunt for them. No one knows for sure where they came from or how far they have spread.
“Over the last month, we have seen more nutria on camera in that area, but we have not been able to catch any more,” Kellum said.
People who think they have seen or found signs of nutria are being asked to take pictures and “immediately report” them to CDFW’s invasive species programme online, by writing invasives@wildlife.ca.gov, or by calling 866-440-9530.
This is especially important for state or federal lands.
It is extremely hard to tell the difference between these animals and beavers or muskrats, so Kellum said that photos of them should include “views of the whiskers,” their front or back feet, tails, and something to show their size, like a pencil, quarter, or wallet.
