SYDNEY – A mouse plague ravaging Australia’s farmlands forced the evacuation of hundreds of inmates from a rural jail today, as the rodents broke in and chewed through essential infrastructure.
Scores of mice have gnawed through ceiling panels and wiring at the New South Wales prison, prompting authorities to scale back operations for repairs.
“The health, safety and well-being of staff and inmates is our No. 1 priority, so it’s important for us to act now to carry out vital remediation work,” said Peter Severin of Corrective Services NSW.
Up to 420 inmates and 200 staff at the Wellington Correctional Centre will be moved to other facilities by month-end.
“We want to do this overhaul once, and we want it done properly, which means we’ll be looking at ways to mitigate the effects of similar plagues in the future,” said Custodial Corrections assistant commissioner Kevin Corcoran.
Mice have been destroying farmers’ produce and tormenting locals in eastern Australia for months after the feral pest boomed on the back of a bumper crop.
The plague is the latest in a string of disasters to strike farmers.
A years-long drought was followed by months of devastating bushfires in late 2019 to early 2020, before rains brought damaging floods to several regions. – AFP, June 22, 2021
