Update on the 1080 stuff

New Zealand have an estimated 30 million possums, up to 25 per hectare in preferred habitats. Possums are known to be very destructive towards both our native birds and their offspring and the forest canopies. Possums, along with ferrets and stoats, also carry infectious and sometimes lethal diseases who of which are responsible for 70% of new infections in cattle and deer herds. So, these animals are seen as unwanted pests and are being eradicated. Some methods include trapping and hunting, but one in particular method, known as 1080, should not be continued.

The use of 1080 in New Zealand is supported by a wide range of agencies and organisations who have a vested interest in protecting our natural heritage and agriculture industry. This includes a couple of outfits that would usually be found at opposite ends of the room on a range of issues, yet the royal forest & bird protection society and federated farmers have an enduring partnership over the use of 1080 in New Zealand. This is all well and good, culling back animals such as possums that put danger on our native birds and wildlife. However what about all the risks of dropping the 1080 poison? What are we unnecessarily jeopardising when there’s alternatives out there?

During aerial poisoning operations, massive quantities (approximately 4000-100,000 kg of bait per drop) of poison-laced, palatable foodstuffs are introduced by helicopter or plane into New Zealand’s forest ecosystems and potentially into streams. The portion of poison per drop ranges from 10-400 km2. Doc assures the public that sensitive areas such as campsites, huts, walking tracks and waterways are avoided during aerial drops.

New Zealand is now the world’s largest consumer of 1080. In most other countries 1080 is banned outright or severely restricted because of its lethality and its uncritical killing power. There is considerable opinion that important damage could be done to NZ tourism and its brand name “100% pure” labelling if the poisoning with aerial 1080 was widely known outside New Zealand. If 1080 traces were ever found in exported food products such as milk and beef it could have important impact on New Zealand’s ability to export these products. 1080 has an amazing ability to spread. Again and again in research, “control” samples have become accidentally contaminated. Because 1080 poison is highly soluble it spreads very fast in water and also up food chains. For example, researchers found 100% mortality of aphids on broad bean plants grown in 0.00005% 1080 solution. Likewise, 1080 has been shown to pass readily into milk and meat.

1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) is a toxin lethal to all that breathes air. It is also an extremely effective insecticide, killing not only the insects at the bottom of our food chain but mammals, birds, bats, insects, lizards, koura, etc. Either directly or through secondary poisoning. The aerial application of 1080 poison is banned in the U.S. Due to its hazard to human health and the environment.

1080 is inhumane - animals and birds can suffer for many hours, even days, before dying. Conveniently hidden in the bush, 1080 is responsible for killing countless creatures that innocently eat the bait on the forest floor. 19 different native bird species have had corpses tested positive for 1080 after the 1080 drops. An estimated 20,000 deer are poisoned by 1080 each year. Research has gathered overwhelming evidence of harm to some native species from aerial 1080 operations, and there is considerable evidence of ecological disruption, as one would expect given the indiscriminate nature of the aerial 1080 programme.

1080 is a poison with no antidote. In more than 50 years of 1080 use in nz, thousands of family pets and valuable farm stock have suffered the cruel death of 1080 poisoning. 1080 is a reproductive toxin having the potential to affect breeding and cause abnormalities in the unborn foetus, humans included.

1080 keeps on killing many months after it is dropped. Non-target creatures can be poisoned through direct or secondary poisoning, and so it goes on through the food chain. It blocks muscle and organ abilities to absorb energy from its food, resulting in a slow and inhumane death. The effected suffer from 8 -24 hours for birds, 2-4 days for large mammals and there is no known antidote for this deadly poison.

Poisoning from 1080 occurs through eating the dosed baits, either a cereal pellet, a poison-laced carrot or from the flesh of a poisoned animal. Carcasses remain poisonous until they are completely decomposed, which then makes 1080 particularly lethal to dogs.

At the Wallaceville animal research centre, cruel tests were taken in order to check if a deceased animal still contained the 1080 poison lethal enough to kill another animal who eats it. A rabbit was fed a large amount of 1080 bait and died 1hr 45mins later. It was then skinned, gutted and fed to a large dog. The results showed that the dog was unharmed however if it consumed the skin or the gut of the rabbit it would have most definitely died. Another study was done with a small hogget, following similar actions as the rabbit. The hogget ate a large dose of 1080 poison, dying 2hrs later. Again the carcass was stripped clean and the meat was given to 5 dogs, 2 in which died.

So in the bush or on a farm where an animal is about to eat a carcass that died from 1080, they’re not going to sit there with a knife and fork and cut out the gut of the poisoned animal in hope that the rest is going to be safe enough for them to eat. No, they’re going to munch straight into it, possibly cleaning it all up and killing themselves with the remaining poison.