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Stop Poisoning our Wildlife

Posted on October 14, 2019October 20, 2019

The long awaited Shark Cage Diving decision was released by the NZ Supreme Court last week. This was great news for Bluff and it’s shark cage divers Shark Experience Ltd as they are back in business when the Great Whites arrive in December as part of their annual migration.

SC-86-2018-Shark-Experience-v-Pauamac5-and-others

The court clarified the meaning of “hunt or kill” to include any actual kill, intentional hunt or disturbance which may cause significant harm. The offence is “strict liability”, so is unlawful even if there was no intent to “hunt or kill” wildlife.

Shark Cage Diving is conducted in accordance with a code of practice approved by DoC and it’s shark expert Clinton Duffy, in accordance with best international practice to avoid harm to sharks.

Is poisoning kea and other wildlife an offence under the Wildlife Act?

The shark case has drawn attention to other activities which may harm or kill wildlife, including aerial poisoning operations. Research shows a high rate of bykill of wildlife such as kea from aerial 1080 operations and the poisoning of kiwi, kakariki, morepork, weka, Kaka, tuatara and an array of other species

Brodifacoum killed four tuatara at Nelson’s Natureland zoo after the ate cockroaches that had eaten rat bait. Tutara were reported to be killed the same way in earlier scientific reports.

The recent “blue cockroach” photo highlights the risk of secondary kill from thse poisons. In this case four tuatara were killed after they ate and were poisoned by cochroaches which had eaten brodifacoum rat bait.

Cockroaches poisoned by brodifacoum rat bait

These tuatara were poisoned at Nelson’s Natureland zoo. https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/113989565/picture-of-poisoned-blue-cockroach-watershed-moment-in-tuatara-deaths

https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/114073415/poison-that-killed-tuatara-at-nelsons-natureland-on-priority-review-list

This was at much the same time as Naturaland’s sponsor, the Nelson City Council, was funding the highly controversial aerial poisoning of the Brook Sanctuary with the same brodifacoum poison, ironically so it would be “safe” to release tuatara there.

It is well established by published research that 1080 poison and brodifacoum kill and sub-lethally poison an array of wildlife. Both cause cruel and prolonged deaths. Brodifacoum is banned in many countries overseas because it is bio-accumulative and builds up in the foodchain over many years. The sale of wild prok from the Marlbough Sounds is banned due to its contamination with rat bait making it unsafe to eat.

1080 is banned in many countries due to its risk for use in chemical warfare (for example if a terrorist put it in a public water supply), its extreme toxicity and the absence of any antidote. DoC frequently claims that 1080 is “biodegradable”, however its rate of breakdown and breakdown products depend on temperature, the microbes present and other environmental factors. 1080 may be converted during respiration to fluoro-citrate which is extremely toxic, damages muscle, sperm and mitochondria and can cross the blood brain barrier as a neurotoxin. The carbon-fluoride bond in the 1080 molecule is very robust, and 1080 may eventually break down to methyl fluoride (Freon) a greenhouse gas. The fluoride ion is toxic and neurotoxic in many forms.

The Sodium fluoroacetate “1080” molecule . The C-F bond is very hard to break.

DoC and MPI specify a minimum withholding period of four months (which may be extended to eight months), for wild foods exposed to 1080 poison. 1080 poison baits tend to be stable until the poison is flushed out with water. 1080 may be present for many months in poisoned carcases, with the poisoned carcases themselves becoming poison baits. Poisoned carcasses may kill kea, morepork, falcon, weka, dogs and other animals through SECONDARY POISONING. Brodifacoum, 1080 and their metabolites contaminate the food chain including milk, water, trout, puha, wild deer and pork.

A family in Putaruru was hospitalised for many weeks with symptoms of severe 1080 poisoning after eating contaminated wild pork supplied by a local hunter. Early claims from Waikato DHB that it was suspected to be botulism were later disproven.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/98980773/waikato-remain-unresponsive-after-suspected-poisoning-from-wild-boar-meat

The government itself recommend caution and a long period before eating wild foods that may have been exposed to 1080 or brodifacoum:

Caution notes

  • The ‘date of application’ for the “proposed” and “will be laid” operations is provisional only and may be subject to change.
  • Occasionally urgent reactive operations (such as TB blips or pest incursions to fenced mainland sanctuaries) may be added to the pesticide summary with little notice prior to the application date. Be aware that printed or downloaded copies of pesticide summaries may be out of date. Check the latest pesticide summary information on the DOC website, or check with the local DOC office before entering any area.
  • The ‘expected time to warning sign removal’ is an estimate only. This period will be extended if bait or carcass monitoring indicates that pesticide residues may still be present. Until this period is finished, warning signs will stay in place and the operation will continue to be listed on the pesticide summary.
  • Do not eat animals from these areas (except for areas where only cyanide and/or cholecalciferol and/or insecticides have been laid) while warning signs are present and operations are listed on the pesticide summary. Do not eat trout for seven days after aerial application of 1080 baits.
  • Also, do not eat animals from within the ‘buffer zone’ outside of the operational area boundary, as listed below. Note that there are no buffer zones for cyanide, cholecalciferol or insecticides.

https://www.mpi.govt.nz/travel-and-recreation/outdoor-activities/hunting-and-gathering/food-safety-when-fishing-or-gathering-shellfish/

A recent OIA from Landcare shows the widespread contamination of 1080 throughout out food chain and even in the urine of workers.

https://fyi.org.nz/request/9697/response/33983/attach/5/All%201080%20Test%20Results%20Summary%20January%202009%20to%20April%202019.pdf

PDF Embedder requires a url attribute

There are no approved tests for some of our important export foods such as honey.

https://fyi.org.nz/request/9697/response/33983/attach/html/4/Sue%20Grey%20Reply%201080%20Test%20Results.docx.html

The death rate of kea averages at around 12% of tagged kea per drop with some aerial poison killing half or more of the tagged kea including in Lake Rotoiti one of the most successful breeding female.

Information recently released from DoC for the Whataroa Perth area showed very few mature kea out of the 70 or so that were tagged.

DoC recently created an aerial poison exclusion zone around the area where Takahe had been released in Kahurangi National Park in recognition of possible risk of the poison to this rare species. It is unfortunate they don’t provide the same protection to kea in recognition of the well established harm to kea from 1080 poison

The shark cage diving case has highlighted wildlife act obligations for poisoners. the penalties are very substantial, including fines of up to $300,000 and imprisonment for breaches for commercial purposes.

Its time for a major review of the way poisons are used in New Zealand due to animal cruelty/wildlife issues and also the contamination of our food, water, ecosystems and environment. Tens of thousands of New Zealanders agree that “if poison is the answer, we are asking the wrong question” resulting in numerous petitions including Tricia Cheel’s 1080 referendum question which requires a massive 300,000 votes.

Surely it should not be so harm to get “our government” to listen to us, to end its unwinnable war on nature and to adopt a more compassionate approach that upholds both the letter and the spirit of the law, and promotes community and environmental wellbeing.

We know a connection with nature and the outdoors is good for our spirit and our souls, whether we enjoy walking, gardening, food gathering, photography or other activities. Its time to reclaim our great outdoors for our people and to start cherishing rather than poisoning our wildlife.

Former PM John Key’s toxic Predator Free 2050 strategy has created massive divides in our communities and $11 million barriers (including locked offices and security guards) between the people and those who are supposed to represent us.

Its time for our people to have a say in conservation and the way our taonga are managed for our future.

I wrote to DoC and the Attorney General yesterday. Let’s see how open they are to listening and changing their practices to comply with the law.

1080-lt-DoC-re-wildlife-Act-14-Oct-2019-edit164301

7 thoughts on “Stop Poisoning our Wildlife”

  1. Alan Rennie says:
    October 15, 2019 at 2:51 am

    AWESOME SUE GREY<

  2. Kerry James Goodhew says:
    October 15, 2019 at 3:12 am

    Awesome campaign Sue!

  3. Helen Black says:
    October 15, 2019 at 3:32 am

    Great synopsis of the on-going ecocide in New Zealand. As Pete Lusk pointed out the other day, if one wants 1080 and other toxic substances to stop introduce Takahe into the area. Department of Conservation (DoC) knows full well that many species at risk eat cereal baits or risk dying of secondary poisoning. DoC has invested a lot of money on bringing back this bird from extinction and won’t risk poisoning them.

  4. Gary Mead says:
    October 15, 2019 at 5:03 am

    Great read Sue. Very easy to follow and understand – great content. Cheers

  5. Deb Griffiths says:
    October 15, 2019 at 6:31 am

    Thanks for all the work you do,Was thinking all day 2day about writing to Jacinta,as my granddaughter has & got a reply about 1080 being the only tool we have in the toolbox ,cough,cough BULLSHIT,we can do this as nz ers

  6. Stephanie McKee says:
    October 19, 2019 at 12:17 pm

    I would have thought that you would have preferred to defend the locals, Sue, instead of the Shark Cage Experience operators? This is puzzling.

    Are there not are parallels here with the Brook Valley Community Group’s battle against corporate conservation fenced “sanctuary” tourism? It seems to me that in this court decision, the human rights of the Stewart Island locals have lost out to the corporate profit-making rights of Shark Experience – adrenaline adventure tourism, with its Instagram selfies and GoPro YouTube boasting

    On reading the recent Supreme Court judgement, it appears to revolve around arguing about the meanings and definitions of words and phrases like “ hunt and kill” “molest’ “chase” etc. from the Wildlife Act. The valid social and ecological concerns of the Stewart Islanders seem to have been lost in this semantic thicket. The local people now feel gutted by this overturning of their previously successful court appeal ( 2017)

    The Stewart Islanders observe that the shark cage diving methods are changing the sharks’ behaviour, with increasing risk to local boaties, divers, swimmers, children. Surely these legitimate concerns have been lost sight of in the recondite legal arguments of the Supreme Court?

    Sue, you said in court while defending the Shark Cage Experience venture that “The shark cage diving companies put berley and one piece of bait on a line in the water each day to attract sharks, hoping some would swim towards the cages.”

    This is not exactly how it is,”put” is not the right verb, if you view a video of a shark cage experience. The sharks are being teased. Just as they approach the bait in the water, it is pulled away. Again and again. If I was a shark I would start getting very frustrated! There are cases filmed (overseas) of aggressive sharks breaching the cage where the tourists are.

    Locals say that sharks are becoming more aggressive every season. In a recent case, a shark bit and damaged an inflatable boat. Children are no longer allowed to swim or dive in the bay. The shark cage operation is only 9km away and in Australia the industry is regulated more, and the cages have to be over 30km away.

    This video outlines the concerns of the locals https://youtu.be/5YzgOc0CtME for anyone wanting to hear their views.

    I don’t think we have heard the last of this story. And I am not sure how it helps our battle against aerial dispersal of ecotoxins.

  7. ปั้มไลค์ says:
    July 21, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.

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