PRISON PESTS

Australian Mice Plague Forces Evacuation of High-Security Jail

More than 400 inmates have been evacuated from a high-security jail in New South Wales after a plague of mice made it unfit to live in.

A plague of mice eating its way through a bumper Australian wheat crop has claimed an unlikely victim—a high-security jail in rural New South Wales has been evacuated because the rodents have caused so much damage. Officials said that more than 400 inmates and 200 staff were being moved to other prisons from the Wellington Correctional Centre so that it could be cleaned up and made safe. Australia suffers regular mice plagues but the current one—after a long drought followed by heavy rains that produced a record wheat crop—is thought to be the worst ever. Numbers of the rodents have reached up to 1,000 per hectare and farmers have been struggling to protect stored grain from swarming mice. BBC News reported that the mice had caused “extensive damage” to the Wellington prison, eating through internal wiring and ceiling panels.