Nelson Marlborough
Michael Bennett Regional Advisor, Federated Farmers NZ

One of the more controversial issues that Federated Farmers deals with is the use of 1080 to control possums and other pests.

Some in New Zealand maintain that the price to be paid from using 1080 is too high, and that we should only use tools such as focused hunting and trapping programmes or traceability to control possums and other pests. Despite this, there is an accumulation of evidence that not only is there no other way to secure the livelihood of farmers and protect our bush, but also that 1080 is relatively safe to people and minimal impacts on non-target species with modern practice.

The Gisborne Herald

A WAR is going on in New Zealand, said Morgan Foundation general manager Geoff Simmons in a presentation at a conservation forum in Gisborne last week.

That war is waged against predators that are decimating New Zealand's native bird population.

Otago Daily Times

All 17 radio-tagged kea in the Mt Arthur region of Kahurangi National Park have survived the 1080 Battle for our Birds operation.

The fate of a further five kea being monitored in the park's Oparara block will not be known until rain washes the last of the poison bait away.

Greymouth Star

The Department of Conservation has completed its 'Battle for our Birds' aerial 1080 poison drops over about 257,000 ha of the Kahurangi National Park the largest in one area it has ever carried out.

3News

The Department of Conservation will start culling pests such as rodents and possums in the Catlins in order to protect mohua and other birds.

The Battle for our Birds operation in the south-eastern corner of the South Island begins on Saturday with an aerial application of non-toxic baits over 10,100 hectares.

The Dominion Post 

The Department of Conservation is in the middle of one of its biggest pest control operations, spreading 1080 pellets across more than 600,000 hectares of conservation land.

Along with the logistics of managing such large-scale operations, scientists are busy out in the field, keeping an eye on native birds.

After a recent 1080 poison operation, dog owners are advised to use caution when walking dogs on the Hutt River and Wellington harbour beaches.

A recent possum control operation, undertaken in the Kaitoke Regional Park and Hutt River Catchment, may have led to carcasses washing downstream following a brief period of heavy rain.

Marlborough Express

A rat plague could be the end of the long-tailed bats native to the Pelorus Bridge Scenic Reserve, a conservation volunteer says.

Giant rats feeding on dropped seeds from the reserve's beech trees had caused an explosion in rat numbers threatening a population of tiny endangered bats roosting in the area.

It prompted Forest & Bird to roll out trapping and baiting of rats, stoats and possums this month to help protect bats.

The Southland Times

Rat numbers in Wakatipu areas hit by 1080 in late August have plummeted, the Department of Conservation says.

Yesterday, DOC said rat numbers had fallen to undetectable levels after a steady rise over winter.

"In the Dart Valley the number of monitoring traps detecting rats is now at just 1 per cent. This figure was 6 per cent in May, 13 per cent in July and without the 1080 operation the figure would have climbed even further."

Otago Daily Times

There has been a 20% increase in bird numbers on Otago Peninsula in areas where possum eradication work has been done.

Preliminary analysis of monitoring data collected by the Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group and University of Otago ecology students has confirmed what many residents believe - that bird numbers are increasing.

Botany Department ecology senior teaching fellow Dr Haseeb Randhawa said students analyzed the 25,000 bird observations recorded by the biodiversity group plus the monitoring work they did themselves.