A planned aerial 1080 drop for next year to rid Stewart Island (Rakiura) of Norway rats and other pest species is running into growing opposition.
Among the opposition or doubters that includes not only local residents but conservationists, there are even some scientists and surprisingly even the Department of Conservation.
DoC scientists Phil Bell and Al Bradley in a scoping report were sceptical and said “we do not consider that it is technically feasible to eradicate rats, cats, and possums from Stewart Island at this time”.
However Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) has been engaged to lead the planning and delivery of the Predator Free Rakiura project.
In conjunction with 1080 poison, ground-based tools, such as traps and bait stations, will also be used in and around people’s residences, including around Oban township.
Te Puka Rakiura Trust (TPRT) and the Department of Conservation are working closely with ZIP as the project transitions to the new operating model.
“Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) is a non-profit organisation founded by DOC and the NEXT Foundation,” says ZIP’s blurb.
But people are increasingly not convinced.
Dairy farmers Mary and Lindsay Molloy of Harihari on the West Coast have a holiday home at Stewart Island where they regularly and often stay.
“I am gutted at the stupidity of those who poison to satisfy their hideous extermination policies,” they said.
Mary Molloy who has first hand experience also of ZIP’s poisoning on the West Coast of the Perth-Whataroa-Okarito-Franz Josef wilderness said the ZIP organisation has falsely claimed to have poisoned predators there. Based on ZIP’s failure at Whataroa she is adamant that she will resist attempts to enter their Stewart Island property.
“I for one will evict ZIP or DoC people who get near our Stewart Island house,” she says.
Bird life will suffer under 1080 while insectivorous birds ike the bush robin will be deprived of vital food
Blanket Poisoning
Scientist Dr. Jo Pollard is critical of DoC’s recent aerial poisoning of nearby Ulva island with brodifacoum toxin and said she had no faith in the proposed blanket poisoning of Stewart Island.
DoC’s actions are negligent since previous DOC poisoning drops on Ulva Island had devastating effects with several native bird species being killed in considerable numbers. She described as “totally irresponsible” ZIP’s and DoC’s attitude to investigating by-kill.
“That was clear in November 2021 when ZIP poisoned over 550 native black-backed gulls (Larus dominicanus), whose bodies appeared on the beaches of a south Westland river in the Perth valley area after a 1080 drop,’ said Dr Pollard.
In a reply to an OIA request, DoC defended ZIP, saying “they had not known there were so many gulls in the area.” Then more of the gulls were killed by ZIP’s poisoning in May 2022.
“The fact that many more species were likely being poisoned off in large numbers, but less obviously, was not acknowledged by either ZIP or DoC,” said Dr. Pollard. “Unbelievably, monitoring of any other creatures’ survival or recovery was only ‘incidental and anecdotal’ when ZIP researchers aerially poisoned with 1080 baits twice at extra high density, a few months apart, in “research” attempting to get rid of all rats, stoats and possums.”
The toxin 1080 was first patented in the 1920s as an insecticide. Insects are vital to pollination and as food for insectivorous birds on Stewart Island such as fantails, grey warbler, bush-wren, robins, rifleman, tomtits and others while other invertebrates such as earth worms are the food for the island’s brown kiwi.
Rat Explosion
Landcare Research studies also show that the rats that survive 1080 drops (usually plus or minus 15%), with abundant food available, accelerate breeding and within 18 months have regained or well overshot pre-poison levels. “Rats are invasive, fast breeding, opportunistic feeders – and after 1080, survivors and immigrants multiply exponentially. Not only are many native animals killed in the poisoning, within months the rat plague causes further ecological disruption and damage” she said.
Trying to control nature with poisons has not gone well for DoC in its other “island eradications” of mammals. On the Antipodes Islands, the monitored species of native birds were severely culled in aerial poisoning, which was followed by an apparent takeover by introduced hedge sparrows. On Fiordland islands, where predators (Norway rats and stoats) were removed, South Island robins (Petroica australis) have flourished and ousted other species.
Laurie Collins, a retired Forest Service officer who as a trainee was involved in the first 1080 trials in Wakatipu’s Greenstone valley in the late 1950s, suspects ZIP’s plan is a disguised attempt to poison the whitetail deer, a herd unique to the island. Yet ZIP says in publicity “deer are not a target species for Predator Free Rakiura.”
Deer Kill
But Laurie Collins is not convinced.
“the fact is deer do get poisoned by aerial 1080 drops,” says Laurie Collins. “And ZIP and DoC must know that plus in zealously following their anti-introduced animal ideology, they’ll kills countless native birds and insects,” he says. “It’s grossly irresponsible, more so as they’re funded by public’s tax money.”
Predator Free Rakiura is planning to use a 10,000ha trial block at the southern end of Stewart island (Rakiura) in Autumn 2025, to asses what is needed to then extend the operation to remove possums, feral cats and hedgehogs across the remainder of the island.
Laurie Collins – ZIP’s aim is to poison the unique whitetail deer herd
Whitetail deer by road near Oban, Stewart Island.
DoC, ZIP, and others are attempting the impossible to eradicate predators. What they fail to understand is the role of predators in a balanced food chain.
The problem is by meddling and interfering using mass poison methods (1080) the balance will be upset. It is well researched that after 1080, the 15% surviving rats will explode in numbers- 18 months later they’re back to pre-poison levels and three years later there’s a plague of rats with 3 or 4 time original numbers.
Maybe the DoC is putting this crazy poisoning operation in ZIPs hands so when the inevitable happens DoC will be able to blame ZIP.
Of course they are after the whitetail deer,thats what ZIP are about,killing everything introduced. People on Rakiura are having the wool pulled over their eyes .
You got that right Ed I think that is one reason it’s used over so much of the South Is,to get rid of deer it’s cheap and easy.
Maybe the kiwi are part of the target species they were introduced there from Haast they have tokoeka DNA.
The Predator Free Ambition is a multi-BILLION dollar delusion that the people of New Zealand cannot afford to pay for.
The money to fund this deluded ambition is diverted from funding valued things like education, medical services, infrastructure and productive enterprises that could improve our lives and prosperity.
The estimated cost for this “grand ambition” was 9 BILLION DOLLARS.
That has inflated to over 18 BILLION DOLLARS.
All of this money has to be come from taxes on working people’s current or future incomes.
That money, working people earn and are forced to pay, is not available to be used for things they value and benefit from.
No-one knows what the consequences of this Predator Free Ambition will be.
No-one knows what effect polluting ecosystems with poisons that harm and kill all oxygen dependent species and organisms will have.
The people who are being forced to fund this eradication of “introduced” species have never been informed of the cost or asked if they are willing to pay it.
Is this hatred and fear of “introduced species” valid or rational or just evidence of a DEATH CULT that justifies the cruel slaughter of innocent and defenseless victims by pretending to “care about birds”?
Should we really be paying so much of our money so that a few people in this poison industry can enrich themselves and VIRTUE SIGNAL at our expense?
These vilified “introduced species” are no less “indigenous” than the 5 Million members of our species that came from somewhere else and now live here.
Their “detrimental” effects on ecosystems is trivial compared to those caused by our species because they still have to comply with nature’s laws while we have the ability to violate those natural laws.
Where is the “tsunami of rats” we are supposed to fear?
Rats and mice are universally disliked but have never been eradicated.
They will not be eradicated here either unless the natural resources they require are also destroyed.
Temporarily reducing their numbers results in promoting their fertility and reproduction.
Over 99% of species that existed have become extinct and replaced by others.
That is still happening and will continue to.
Our species will probably become extinct as well even though we choose to deny it.
Our interference with ecosystems can influence the extinction of some species and polluting these ecosystems with highly toxic poisons like 1080 is actually a threat to the survival of ALL PECIES THAT METABOLIZE OXYGEN including micro-organisms, insects, birds and humans as well.
These poisons do not just “disappear”. They can be “biodegraded” by metabolism within the cells of their victims but toxic residues still persist in the carcasses and are ingested by the microorganisms and “bugs” that process them.
We don’t like “bugs” much either but all ecosystems depend on them.
Destroying these “bugs” is not a good idea but we are doing our best to get rid of them all over the world.
Calling these deadly poisons “our best tools” does not validate using them.
It only prevents us from understanding how potent and dangerous they are.
The proper term for these toxic chemicals is “weapons”.
The evidence about the Predator Free “enterprise” is that the pollution of the ecosystem seems to “work” for a while but then has to be repeated again and again because the survivors of the “war” reproduce and replace the victims.
How long are the productive working people of New Zealand accept paying for this never ending repetition of the pollution of ecosystems with deadly poisons?
Probably until they are too poor to keep paying or have to deal with the eventual environmental crisis that this abuse of nature will inevitably result in.
Some of the people in our current government have said they will reduce government waste of our money.
Defunding the poison industry would enable BILLIONS of our dollars to be used more beneficially.
The consequence of stopping this foolish poison industry would be the same natural biodiversity that most of us liked before the WAR was declared and we were forced to pay for the chemical weapons of mass destruction.