1080 Facts

• 1080 is ONLY registered for aerial use against possums, but in reality it is an indiscriminate poison and kills anything that eats enough of it: insects, birds, aquatic life, mammals, etc.

• Even DoC state that stoats are the major threat to kaka, not possums. (OIA Letter)

• Stoats do not eat the 1080 baits typically used in aerial application. They prefer live kill, so are unlikely to die from eating something that has died from 1080.

• The primary diet of stoats changes after aerial 1080 use from rats to birds. (Murphy)

• Rat numbers explode after aerial 1080 operations. (Landcare Research) DoC then asks for more money for rat control because rats kill birds (e.g. Catlins, Dart, Caples).

• “Stoats and rodents will bounce back in a year.” (DoC e-mail after Waitutu operation)

• Rats can outbreed almost any other vertebrate and so are able to recover faster from blanket poisoning than slow-breeding native birds. (gestation period 21 days <14 per litter)

• Stoats have 1 litter per year of 5~12 pups. Does anything outbreed pests?

• Possums have one joey per year. So, if 1080 killed 99.95% of possums in the Waitutu why do DoC need to go back and do it again?

• DoC’s own research shows that 1080 kills many native birds.

• DoC have NO credible scientific research that can conclude that benefits occur after 1080 operations, not even in a single species.

• By using aerial poisons, DoC are destroying the delicate structure of ecosystems that have evolved over millions of years and are interfering with the balance of nature.

• 1080 is among the world’s 10 most lethal poisons, designated a Class 1A poison by WHO.

• The manufacturer’s label states that carcasses killed by 1080 must be burned or buried and must be kept out of water. This is not happening.

• <5 tons of 1080 is produced annually. The NZ government uses more than 80%. The USDA is the only US customer and is reported to use less than 4 TABLESPOOONS per year.

• 1080 was developed as an insecticide during WWII by the Germans, but despite lack of good quality research DoC claim insignificant impact on insects.

• NZFSA does not routinely test animals or animal products for human consumption (milk, meat) for 1080 residues, even though 1080 is, in some cases, aerially applied next to farms.

• 1080 kills deer, pigs, trout, etc., consumed by the public. They can also ingest sub-lethal doses of  1080 so it can enter the human food chain. Cooking meat (from animals with residues) at under 200°C does not render 1080 completely harmless (Landcare Research).

• 1080 can accumulate in humans in the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and unborn foetus. Symptoms can 

include: cardiac irregularities, chronic fatigue, seizures and foetal abnormalities.

• No long-term studies have ever been carried out to ascertain the safety of 1080 usage.

• 1080 can and does get into water supplies. In the right conditions (cold, low microbial activity) it can persist for months or years.

• 1080 was banned in the UK in 1959 because it was too indiscriminate and kills all invertebrates not just target species.

• New Zealand has already had venison (twice), milk and timber recalled or dumped because of possible or actual 1080 contamination. Obviously some export markets test for 1080.

• Our honey industry has been compromised because of our inability to guarantee freedom from 1080 contamination.

• A lucrative Japanese contract for possum meat was cancelled for the same reason.

• Possum fur now reaches $100+/kg and is a unique product in great demand/short supply.

• There is NO incentive to eliminate the predators that are the greatest threat to our native birds, i.e. stoats, ferrets, feral cats, etc.

• There are more DoC workers in Southland than Police Officers.

• DoC’s 5-minute bird count was devised 35 years ago by Dawson and Bulls and abandoned the following year as it wasn’t a valid scientific method. Why do DoC persist in using it?

• Forest Stewardship Council-accredited forestry companies are no longer allowed to use 1080 or brodifacoum in their forests.

• DoC and AHB, mostly through Landcare Research, are essentially the only sources of scientific investigation into the effects of aerial 1080 on ecosystems. This is because 1080 is banned in most other countries. No other country in the world is doing anything remotely comparable to New Zealand’s poisoning programmes.

 

• Mistletoe is parasitic and can decline in healthy forests despite possum control. DoC knew this before the Waitutu drop.

• According to information publically available on the Internet, Animal Control Products Ltd., the importers of 1080, is wholly owned by Minister of Finance Hon. Bill English and Minister of Agriculture Hon. David Carter on behalf of the government.

• In November 2009, TV One reported that DoC had spent $1.28 million dollars on “spin doctors” over the previous year. Why the need for “spin doctors” when telling the truth costs absolutely nothing? How much did they spend in 2010 and on what?