Muskrat: research with a view to optimising control measures

This study will evaluate the objectives, strategy, methodology and adapted control measures used to combat muskrats in Flanders. This species is a model for an invasive alien species for which the government is implementing a structural control programme.
To this end, in consultation with the Flemish Environment Agency (VMM), coordinator and main executor of the control programme in Flanders, work is being done to monitor the catch results by means of ecological autopsies of the muskrats caught. This data can be used directly in the interpretation of catch numbers and the evaluation of the control measures implemented.
The ecological data obtained during the course of this project also serves as input for the construction of population ecological models, allowing different management scenarios to be compared.
During the autopsies, the liver of the captured muskrats is screened for the presence of Echinococcus multilocularis, the fox tapeworm. This provides additional information on the occurrence of this parasite in Flanders and neighbouring regions. This tapeworm is the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis, a particularly serious zoonosis.