First images of giant, coconut-cracking rat captured by Melbourne researchers

It’s 45cm long, can crack open coconuts and was only identified in 2017. Now Melbourne researchers have captured this giant rat on camera.

The Uromys vika giant rat which lives on the Solomon Islands is captured on camera for the first time. Picture: Supplied

A rare giant, coconut-cracking rat has been has been captured on camera for the first time by Melbourne researchers.

The elusive rat, which can be up to four times the size of urban rodents, was first identified as a species in 2017 but was only known through a single, dead specimen found two years before.

The 45cm rodent is only found on one small island, Vangunu, in the Solomon Islands.

University of Melbourne mammalogist Tyrone Lavery said the night-time camera images, showed four different animals.

The story of the rat, named as Uromys vika, was told through the local Vangunu people who helped researchers locate and photograph the animal.

How the giant rat stacks up.

“To work that hard and work with people with traditional knowledge, it was a massive reward and to name a species is pretty special,” Dr Lavery said.

The rare rat is at least twice the size of a common rat, lives in the trees and can chew through coconuts and nuts with its sharp teeth, he said.

Dr Lavery said he estimated that fewer than 100 of the rats survived and it is now listed as critically endangered because of logging in its forest habitat.

“This comes at a critical juncture for the future of Vangunu’s last forests – which the community of Zaira have been fighting to protect from logging for 16 years.”

The elusive rat is at least twice the size of urban rodents. Picture: Supplied

Uromys vika giant rats that crack coconuts with their jaws

The images and report will be published in the Ecology and Evolution journal on Tuesday.

Fellow author Kevin Sese, from the Solomon Islands National University, said the field work was guided by the Vangunu people’s knowledge of Uromys vika, and that the night-time field cameras captured 95 images.

Mr Sese said the local community had long insisted the presence of the species in their forests but they had never been scientifically documented, until now.

Dr Lavery said the research team used oil lamps scented with sesame oil to attract the rodents.

The revelation of the new species six years ago sparked headlines around the world.