Don't take your dog to pet-friendly campsites of the Kauaeranga Valley this Christmas.

They will be decidedly pet-unfriendly following a 1080 drop.
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The Department of Conservation has confirmed the area is the site for a Tiakina Ngā Manu predator control operation that involves aerial 1080.

A discovery that kea might be able to learn to detect toxic 1080 bait by how it looks could be a breakthrough in teaching them not to eat it.

The controversial poison is used widely to control pests on conservation land, but it also killed non-targeted animals and birds - including, sometimes, the endangered kea.

New research showed that an additive that made it "shiny", or that appealed to the parrot's ability to see ultraviolet colour, might be the tool needed to teach the curious alpine parrots to avoid the toxic pellets.
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Kea Conservation Trust patron Peter Hillary said the discovery was timely.