Alberta’s self-image as world’s only rat-free region shattered by discovery of rat

Alberta’s formidable geography has stymied the infiltration of the vermin into the province – until now. Photograph: Dave Chidley/AFP/Getty Images

For more than seven decades, residents of Alberta have shared something in common with Antarctica and the high Arctic: all locations are officially free of rats.

But on Thursday the Canadian province’s reputation as a firewall against rodent infestation took a hit when the town of Bowden announced the discovery of a dead rat and called on the province’s “rat patrol” to investigate.