No more 1080 poison for Lake Taupo Forest?

A group of concerned Maori led by Dave Livingston and Australian lawyer and Maori law expert Michael Sharp, have come one step closer to ending aerial 1080 poisoning in the Lake Taupo Forest.

Dave Livingston stated that demonstrating that there was an alternative to aerial poisoning, was the catalyst. After the trial in which trapping was used, Livingston stated "we proved ground control will work. A 2000 hectare trial found only one live possum after monitoring was completed. The AHB was happy and have now given another block above Tokaanu, as a second trial, thanks to Brent Webster".

At the local AGM meeting, land owners unanimously voted against using 1080 poison in future. Great work, team!

Message from a pest-control operator

The following is a letter from an experienced pest control operator, and refers to his experience with managing bovine tb without using aerially applied 1080 poison ...


My name is Martin Foote. I was Vice President of the New Zealand
Oppossum Fur Producers Association (NZOFPA) for a number of years.

Before my time and during that time possum trappers took on the 1080
industry...And we made life tough for them.

Myself and a number of possum trappers knew that if we set traplines
and kept them going (not lifting 1 trap until a line of at least 100
caught nothing for 3 nights in row) we could achieve a RTC of 0% or
very, very close to it. I and others have done this numerous times
(and were paid for it in the early contracting days). Sure, compared
to an initial 1080 knockdown, it costs more. However, when you take
the lower costs of keeping the possums below 1% for however long they
need to be controlled it is cheaper in the long term.

When I approached the powers that be (DOC, Wellington Regional Council
(WRC) and AHB) and said that I would lower possum populations to below
1% and keep them there for 10 years for the same price as they were
planning to spend on 1080 over that time (with no guarantees on their
1080) they turned me down. They told me that 1080 was more cost
effective. I've never been able to work out how a guaranteed job with
the same price tag as a hopeful job, can be inferior.

I also spent some time talking to Professor Roger Morris (Massey
University) about TB in possums and TB in the environment. Roger
believed in a theory of hot-spots whereby the TB bug stays active in
the environment waiting for a new possum to come along and be
infected. These hot-spots were geographically stable and were probably
related to den sites. I asked Roger how long he thought the TB bug
could stay infectious if a TB possum died in cool, dry, dark
den....His answer was 20 YEARS.

I then asked Roger if he was interested in supervising an operation to
eradicate TB using his hot-spot theory and my trapping skills. He said
yes.

The operation was paid for by myself (with the exception that the farm
paid for my fuel). I selected Glenburn Station. Glenburn was one of
the places in the Wairarapa where TB was first recorded. The coastal
side of Glenburn had never had TB while the inland side always did. I
spent some time with Roger's staff working out an autopsy technique
that would find TB possums without slowing my skinning too much. The
agreed method took me about twice as long to skin a possum and Roger
thought I would pick up 95% of TB infections.

I caught 18 TB possums (confirmed by Massey University) from 3 areas
on the boundary of the block I eventually worked. When I was sure that
I had achieved the result I needed to show that hunters could target
TB I asked Glenburn to bring some young cattle from the coast to graze
on my block. Glenburn did so and rigorous TB testing was done....NO
REACTORS.

I then took my results to AHB and WRC. Who did their nana as I asked
for long term contracts and I wanted to only be paid if there were
clear herd tests. I remember one of the senior staff telling me that he couldn't
allow me to take a risk like that!!!!!!

After that things went down hill fast. Glenburn's manager was forced
(by politics) to let the test herd into a paddock that I had isolated
as having the largest number of TB possums coming from it. The next TB
test had reactors. 3 senior staff members started rubbishing my work at public meetings until I told them that if they continued to do so they would end up in court. 
They stopped talking about me, however, they weren't prepared to offer me any contracts and I had run out of money. This block is now planted in
pine trees with no cattle grazing and Glenburn is TB free. They put a
pine tree band aid over the problem and those infectious den sites are
still there." 


The Mapara operation...


The initial control was done by trappers. It was one of the first
trial contracts and was run by NZOPFA. The first trappers that went in
did enough work to get the first payment and then walked off. A second
group, of which I was one, went in and finished the job to the agreed
standard for the remaining money. We wanted the contract to continue
with the maintenance, however, Doc decided to follow up with aerial
1080. No good reason was ever given and we suspected that they never
expected us to succeed and DOC never had any intention of letting
hunters prove how good they were.

In the DOC ground control work, after the aerial 1080, a lot of
Brodificum was used and it was discovered that the native Falcon was
laying eggs but no chicks were hatching. Upon investigation it was
found that the eggs were contaminated with Brodificum and it was
suspected that the Falcons were catching sick and dying rats for their
prey causing sublethal poisioning that made their eggs infertile.

Malcolm Moore (Rotorua) managed the contract for NZOFPA, Ray Scimgeour
was the DOC Field Centre Manager for Te Kuiti (good bloke) and Phil
Brady was the scientist living on the job.

I've also noted that neither DOC, AHB or Regional Councils are giving
out post operation possum population figures. A few years ago we
always knew the poor 1080 operations as they didn't release the
monitoring results and they always released the results for successful
operations. I've visited ERMA's website and they have a watchlist
section for DOC and AHB to post their operations and results on. There
are very few operations there. Last years 3 Tararua blocks, including
"Project Kaka", are there, however, there are no post operation
monitoring results posted. What's the point of having a watchlist if
there is nothing to watch or evaluate? My guess is they didn't get the
possum kill they wanted. There have been a number of aerial 1080
failures in the Tararua's.


Martin Foote


Ends.

Good Work, DoC - Good Nature Traps

It's great to see that the Department of Conservation is working toward targeted, more efficient methods of pest control.
A new, humane, instant kill possum trap has been developed by private enterprise - Wellington business, Good Nature. The story appeared on a TV3 news item last night.
The trap can reportedly, kill 12 possums, before its propellant canister is required to be changed.

DoC state they spend around 20 million dollars per year on pest control. However, when taking into account the amounts spent by the AHB, Regional Councils and other departments, the NRCPB (National Research Centre for Possum Biocontrol) places the total, annual figure, at over 110 million dollars.

The current 110 million is spent to waste the possum, and contributes to contaminating our forests with poisons, and poisonous carcasses.
This money would be better spent on targeted pest management, improved track networks, and increasing the number of trappers huts throughout our forests.

Currently, over 100 million in revenue is brought into New Zealand by private possum product industries.
With further support, it is estimated this figure could be doubled.

These new self setting traps could be used in rough areas, too, although rough terrain areas are probably not needed to be managed, because possums, like the majority of birds prefer to live where the food supplies are more abundant, and where the temperatures and forest cover is more favorable.

Great work by DoC, and Good Nature.
Be sure to watch Poisoning Paradise by clicking the link below. It raises the importance and effectiveness of targeted pest control...

Snappy New Possum Trap Effective and Humane

Apart from the inclusion of the usual propaganda, this story is good news for the humane management of possums - (The propaganda ... "Possums damage native forests, spread bovine Tb among cattle and deer, and eat the eggs and chicks of native birds" - when, in fact, possums have done little harm to forests; cattle pass bovine tb (bovine tb is catle tb) to possums, and rarely; and it is extremely rare for possums to eat birds and birds' eggs)
Snappy New Possum Trap Effective and Humane

Watch Poisoning Paradise, free, online now, for a short period of time.  Click link below

Progress

The government has agreed to fund a 4 million dollar trial on the effectiveness of a new, self-setting, instant kill trap which targets possums, rats and stoats. Click here to see press release. Super stuff!

The trial won't start until next summer, 2011/2012, and will run for 3 years - which means more 1080, in the mean time, which is concerning.

This new step in testing and developing this trap is good news, no question.

But why has it taken so long to develop something so simple? This trap is a result of private enterprise - good old kiwi ingenuity - should it not have been a government funded research institution that developed something so simple? Apparently not.
Why? Because our government funded - alternatives to 1080 - departments are looking for alternatives by developing new poisons. New toxic substances that can be dropped from aircraft - always developing that more lethal, targeted poison - and as a result, we believe, they're not putting enough effort into responsible, targeted trapping technology.

For heaven's sake, we can build huge bridges that span harbours, put tunnels through mountains, put man on the moon (I think), carry hundreds of people through the air at a time, from country to country - and you tell me we can't catch a few possums, rats and stoats? Non-sense!

We need to replace, or re-educate our inDoCtrinated, poison loving bigwigs that currently run our pest management departments. What's needed is sensible, humane, and clean-green thinking, community minded appointees.
We may then start to see harmony, unity, and respect return to communities, and to those charged with managing our wilderness areas.

What is The Alternative to aerial 1080 poison operations in New Zealand?

When people ask this question, they are really asking, innocently perhaps ... what's the alternative to mass scale animal cruelty, contaminating pristine water supplies, blanket poisoning of plants, lethally and sub-lethally poisoning un-targeted wildlife and endangering native wildlife?

How do we stop producing poor quality advocacy science to support the poison industry, mis-leading the world with regard to NZ's Clean Green image, risking damage to international export markets, risking the health of people, ignoring international health warnings, and breaching civil rights?

Is it really that bad? Well that's what's happening at the moment.

To suggest an alternative is needed, would suggest there is a problem. This is debated by the people in power.

It would be better to stop - and do nothing - than to use aerial 1080 poison in New Zealand!

However, few are suggesting that we do nothing.

Perhaps we don't have a possum problem in New Zealand at all. Perhaps we have a bureaucracy problem - a bureaucracy that feeds fear of the "possum", into the minds of the public.

Or perhaps we have a possum opportunity.

The most community-friendly "alternative" for this small country, New Zealand, is ground control of pests. That is - people on the ground, using responsible, targeted humane poisons, and good trapping techniques.

It can be achieved, with a well orchestrated, national management plan that starts by targeting key areas of importance - such as bird sanctuaries, and areas in need of tuberculosis (TB) management - and then extends to other areas, in order of importance. There is scientific evidence to suggest that rugged terrain doesn't even need to be controlled. Targeting the more manageable country is enough. The Animal Health Board has also proved that ground control is successful in managing TB.

The Alternative
Why is ground control the best way? Because it is specific with its target. Poisons are NOT cast all over the countryside, and across waterways, for non-targeted animals to consume. Poisonous carcasses, and baits, are NOT left to decompose and to poison other non-target animals. Ground control is the responsible management method.

The problem we currently have to deal with is people in positions of power trumpeting that ground control isn't an option. This is nonsense. They are defeating the true clean, green NZ method of control before it is given a chance to work. We need to re-program this thinking pattern, to re-educate these advocates of toxins, or have them replaced with people that encourage a different type of talk - the type that says "we must stop poisoning this country, and use people on the ground, with non-secondary, humane poisons, good trapping techniques, and that encourages employment and industry."

History is full of people that said Man couldn't fly, Man couldn't build a harbour bridge, Man couldn't drill a 10-kilometre tunnel from Manapouri to Deep Cove, that Man couldn't put a train tunnel through a mountain, that Man couldn't conquer Everest, that Man can't control a few possums in our forests ... and so it goes on.

Enough of what can't be done. It's time to concentrate on what must be done!

Investment
New Zealand needs to spend 200 million dollars per year if necessary (not just the 100 million + that it is currently spent on poisoning operations) on encouraging, supporting and developing sound ground control methods. We need to pay to get this country back to its clean, green status. If some screeech 'We can't afford it', I am sure the tourism industry, the export industries, and even the rest of the world will help out. There is always a way, when a positive direction is set.

Besides, after income from export products are taken into account, that 200 million is reduced to 100 million - so the investment is the same as the poisonous option anyway. It's a no-brainer!

Authorities suggest that if ground operators are making money from the possums, they should not receive payment for doing the work. They are happy to spend over 100 million dollars contaminating this country, for no return, but they are not willing to cough up to support the man trying to make a living from responsible management. This is also nonsense. We must pay our workers well, encourage them, increase the number of warm huts in the back country, increase the track networks, utilise helicopters, and build the New Zealand bushman into an icon - a brave, tough, committed mountain man or woman - that young people, and people with interests in the outdoors, will want to emulate.

Employment in Rural Areas
New Zealand has plenty of rural areas where Maori live, for example. Many of them are unemployed. Here is a perfect opportunity to encourage rural Maori into forest management, long-term employment, and a positive future.

We can then build a strong industry from our wild animal management, and create a win-win situation, where we are earning export dollars, using responsible management methods, and keeping our country healthy, happy and employed.

Bounty System
We suggest using a bounty system, to keep track of possum numbers and encourage interest in the community. To simply spout that a bounty doesn't work, stems viable solutions, before they get traction. A bounty has worked in the past, and it can work again. Ironically, it was a bounty that helped extinct one of our endemic birds, the Huia.

Trapping is also effective in rat and mustelid (Stoat, Weasel, Ferret) capture. There should be monetary incentives for the capture of these species. We know that aerial 1080 poison operations increase rat numbers x 3, compared to areas with no control (Ruscoe study 2008), and that this causes stoats to switch their diet to birds. The Murphy study (1998) shows the bird component of their diet at 6% pre 1080-drop, compared with 56% post-1080 drop.

The possum has one offspring per year, so they cannot out-breed good management. It's unlikely that there are 70 million possums in this country. This is another propaganda line tossed around by the proponents of poisons. The possum population is below 30 million, based on national observation by experts with whom we converse.

We don't have a possum problem in this country, we have a bureaucracy problem.

We don't have a possum problem, we have a possum opportunity.

Until we have people with positive goals for New Zealand's environment, its image, its wellbeing and its future at the helm, the common-sense alternative will never be realised.