In 2009 we released our second documentary on 1080 poison called Poisoning Paradise - Ecocide New Zealand.
The doco clearly pointed out that the use of 1080 poison not only kills large numbers of un-targeted animals and birds, but it also allows rat and stoat populations to increase because of a reduction in competition for food and a reduction in predators.
The phenomenon falls under The Law of Unintended Consequences.
The users of 1080 state that 1080 does kill some birds, and other un-targeted species, but "the birds bounce back in record numbers!" (We're yet to see an area where this is true)
What the users of 1080 fail to tell you is that rats and stoats (both predators of birds - we're told) bounce back even faster.
Birds have one or two clutches per year - rats and stoats have things called litters.
The average Norway Rat can have 4 - 6 litters per year! In each litter a rat can have 10 pups.
Stoats have one litter per year, and 5 - 12 pups per litter.
Many of New Zealand's endemic birds are slow breeders, and endangered. Many of these birds live in 1080 poison drops. When drops take place, not only are these birds at risk through primary and secondary poisoning, they're at risk from an increase in predators. Nothing out-breeds the pests after the poison's dropped.
The irony in all this is that the humble possum, often the target of these poison drops, has only one young, called a joey, per year!
The truth is starting to come out - here's a link to the recent news item about rats and 1080 Rat-plagues-linked-to-1080-poison-drop
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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