In environmental science we have been learning and talking about biodiversity and ecosystems. It is important to keep these places safe and healthy however some things do their best to prevent us from doing that. One of the main things in different kinds of invasive species. I decided the invasive species that I wanted to talk about is the giant pouched rat. I will be addressing the native ecosystem, its introduction, and habitat problems. After that I will form a plan to help deal with this invasive species.
The Gambian pouched is most commonly found in central Africa in the Sahara desert and even in Zululand. This rat is diverse in where it can live because it can hunt and gather many things to survive off of. They are known as hoarders, they keep as…show more content… They are omnivores and feed on fruits, vegetables, nuts, and even small insects if available. The Gambian rat actually has a niche in its ecosystem. The Gambian pouched rat serves to keeps its ecosystem by helping to keep the ecosystems amount of insects under control. Another thing that they do is help spread seeds after they eat the fruit that they belong to. This helps plants become more abundant and provide more food for them and other animals. These two things can be considered vital to the ecosystem around the Gambian pouched rat. This rat was originally introduced in the south near the Florida Keys. A private breeder accidentally allowed some of them to escape into the wild. There was actually no reason for them being purposely introduced into the wild. This creature one it was introduced was actually not that bad at first. It didn’t do any crazy damage to the ecosystem or anything. However what it did do was cause the outbreak of monkeypox in the U.S. It began with them spreading the disease to prairie dogs who were then purchased as pets. Because of this in 2003 the FDA and the CDC said no
