The giant rat Uromys vika (U. vika) is critically endangered. It is one of the rarest rodents in the world. It has been captured for the first time with camera trap images. Thus, we can know a little more about the giant rat that breaks coconuts with its teeth.
It was detected for the first time in 2017. It is known only through a single physical specimen or holotype, which measured almost half a meter. The species is known to inhabit only one island, Vangunu in the Solomon Islands. It is Critically Endangered due to logging of its primary lowland forest habitat.

huge rat
This rare giant rat is at least twice the size of a common rat. It lives in trees and can reportedly chew coconuts with its teeth. The head of the research team is Dr Tyrone Lavery from the University of Melbourne’s School of Biosciences. He said the Vangunu giant rat was the first new species of rodent described in the Solomon Islands in more than 80 years.
“Capturing images of the Vangunu giant rat for the first time is extremely positive news. “This species is little known,” he said in a statement. “This is a critical moment for the future of the last Vangunu forests. The Zaira community has fought to protect the area from logging for many years. The images show that the giant rat that breaks coconuts with its teeth lives in the primary forests of Zaira. “It is the last remaining habitat for the species.”
Community Help
Dr Lavery said Vangunu people have deep traditional ecological knowledge. Taking advantage of it was a vital part of the project’s success. «For decades, anthropologists were aware of this knowledge. But efforts to scientifically document this species were unsuccessful,” Dr Lavery said.
The field work was guided by the knowledge that the Vangunu people had about this animal. Using camera traps, the authors were able to capture 95 images. They were four different individuals in their forest habitat.