1080, A Death Trap?

1080, A Death Trap?

A beautiful forest: green trees, birds chirping, the sound of insects jumping around in the fallen leaves. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have more of this in our native New Zealand forests? However, DoC (Department Of Conservation) holds a dark truth about why we don't see much of this in our forests. That truth is 1080 and it should be banned.

                                                               

Sodium monofluoroacetate, better known as 1080, is used to kill pests that were introduced to New Zealand, such as stoats, rats and possums, from native parks and forests. It is also developed as an insecticide so obviously, insects will be affected. Our native icon, kiwi, eats insects therefore are exposed to secondhand poisoning. Do you want them extinct?. The poison 1080 is often non-biodegradable it can last up to six months in the environment allowing it more time to poison more and more animals. It will kill anything, from small insects to bigger mammals including deer and cows.  

Also stoats are not always killed by 1080 poison as some of them have an immunity to the poison. This data was collected in 2010. The rat population boomed after DoC attempted to get rid of the numbers of rats. ‘’Rats had gathered around homes of people beside the state highway between Hokitika and Whataroa, after a 1080 drop in 2010.’’ Laurie Collins, said in his fourteen  years working for the forest service mainly in pest control, there had never been the pest control problem DoC now claimed existed ‘’ (NZ Herald Debate Flares Over 1080 Drop) .

1080 does not only kill pests that we don't want; it kills anything in its power. Our wildlife is in danger because of this horrific poison. Studies have shown evidence of considerable harm to native species. Ban1080.co.nz says nineteen different native bird species corpses were tested positive for 1080 poisoning. Significant numbers of native bird species never had the poisoning risk indicated. They may never recover from such a loss of number. This is a very high price for pest control. A 1080 operation in Arthurs pass last year killed five among thirty nine monitored birds. Information was not available for how many died out of the monitored group. 1080 is also deadly to farmers’ livestock, dogs, deer even humans. Not only is it leading to natives deaths, it is also an excruciating painful death. For a bird it takes 12-24 hours to die, larger animals can take 2 - 4 days. ‘’To make a statement that no bird are being killed by 1080 is just ridiculous’’ Mary Molloy said.

Instead of making our native wildlife suffer from excruciating death which is preventable. Why don’t we use another method that is humane to kill pests and doesn't kill our native wildlife? Trapping, although more expensive, is a better option than 1080. If a native decides to crawl into a trap it’s not going to die, but if it eats 1080 it is a certain death. If a stoat crawls into a trap DoC will take it away and kill it humanely where as if it ate 1080 it would die anywhere and another carnivorous animal would eat it then that animal would die too. Cyanide is also an option a pest crawls into a trap DoC takes it away and gases it, which is better than 1080 and would also mean less expense on our precious native wildlife.

Therefore these are my reasons why I think 1080 should be banned for good. It is used to kill pests but as you know it will kill anything in its power, there are other ways to kill pests that doesn't affect our native wildlife.

Written By Ellie McVicar