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Two major 1080 operations intended to kill possums and rabbits in the Mackenzie Basin will be under way soon.
Ospri (formerly TBFree NZ) has contracted Excell Biosecurity to undertake a ground operation of more than 43,000 hectares in the Mackenzie Basin. A group of South Island fishermen claim to have come into contact with aerially distributed 1080 bait pellets in early December while guiding a fishing party in the Mokihinui River valley.
An aerial 1080 operation on that day was being flown by helicopter contractors completing pest control work for the Department of Conservation’s Battle for our Birds programme and OSPRI’s TBfree programme. A long-time campaigner against the pesticide 1080 has persuaded a council to add more cautionary details to warning signs used during aerial bait drops.
Waikato Regional Councillor Clyde Graf got a motion passed that adds a line to warning signs which states: "Poison baits or carcasses may be present in waterways''. Two scheduled 1080 drops to combat bovine tuberculosis in southern Marlborough have been delayed.
The drops were planned to cover more than 25,000 hectares at Isolated Hill, near the Waima River, and at Kowhai-Swyncombe, near Kaikoura, and have been pushed back until late winter. An aerial drop of toxic 1080 baits over about 3635ha at Isolated Hill was originally scheduled from May until June but will now take place in the next period of suitable fine weather, an OSPRI TBfree spokeswoman said. The area has been pre-fed before the 1080 baits were due to be spread. Lawrence's town water supply will undergo testing following a planned 1080 poison drop, as a result of strong public protest to an upcoming operation at the nearby Glendhu Forest.
At a public meeting at the South Otago town in April, a number of people were vocal in their concerns about the impact of the poison as a means of TB possum control with toxin sodium fluoroacetate - 1080, on water ways, people and animals, in the Glendhu recreational area. The number of bovine tuberculosis (TB) infected herds has dropped below 40 for the first time in the history of New Zealand’s TBfree programme delivered by OSPRI. According to this week’s figures, an all-time low of 36 herds were infected with bovine TB (34 cattle and two deer herds).
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