Date Time Rethinking pest management to protect native species Australian native species might seem overrun by feral invaders, but Professor Peter Banks has an ingenious idea that could bring the odds back in their favour. As COVID closed down New York’s restaurants and fast food joints, food waste quickly disappeared from gutters, dumpsters and garbage bins. Within days, there were stories of rat gangs fighting in alley ways for scraps. There were stories of rat cannibalism. Though New York has Norway or brown rats, similar scenes possibly played out with Sydney’s black rats which have the rakish scientific name of Rattus rattus (brown rats, are Rattus norvegicus).