There have been thousands of cases of poisoned farm animals, non-targeted wildlife, pets, and people following 1080 poison and brodifacoum aerial operations across New Zealand.
Not surprisingly, those involved with the aerial poisoning drops – our government, the Department of Conservation, TB Free, regional councils … and ironically, those that sign the drops off – the district health boards – have never compiled a register of the incidents that have taken place over the years.
So some intellects from around the country decided to put together some of the known poisoning cases, including people that have been crying out to be heard for so long.
In the following video clip lawyer Sue Grey and Waikato Regional Councillor for Taupo, Kathy White, explain how they attempted to present the poisoning register to members of parliament (on a typically windy day) …
For information on the Govt owned Whanganui 1080 factory go here.
What exactly happened at the fire at the Horizons Council depot Levin, in January? We know that 1080 and other poisons were kept there. We are not told how much, although it could have been up to 100 tonnes. We know that local residents were not aware of the potential dangers of the toxic fumes that may have reached their homes. Note that the council have admitted that “1080 [poison] casing was damaged in the fire.” We also know that the local DHB and therefore the Medical Officer of Health were not informed about the fire via Fire & EmergencyNZ, nor Horizons, nor WorksafeNZ. This should have been a ‘notifiable incident’ with strict health and safety procedures in place, including an evacuation plan for nearby residents and drainage facilities for the fire equipment that prevented contamination of the water-tables.
An investigation into the suspicious fire at Levin’s Horizons Regional Council depot was stalled for a month due to hazardous substances.
The January fire damaged property, equipment and vehicles stored at the depot.
It was confirmed by police that the depot had been broken into and a quad bike set alight.
Controversial pest control poison 1080 was stored at the depot along with herbicides for weeds, cyanide and rabbit toxins.
Horizons chief executive Michael McCartney confirmed that a 1080 casing was damaged in the fire.
Waste Management Technical Services recently removed and disposed of the hazardous substances, allowing Police to do an internal scene examination on Tuesday.
Mr McCartney said the removal was a complex and time-consuming task but it was now completed and all poisons accounted for.
He said the hazardous substances were not removed immediately following the fire to ensure their casings did not break.
“We did not want to risk moving them until we could ensure this could be done without risk to the environment or human health.”
In 2016 the Ministry for Primary Industries released a warning to trout fishermen, not to eat trout from 1080 poisoned rivers for at least 7 days. However, as the MPI warning was based on incomplete, and erroneous information. In this video clip Brett Power demonstrates why trout fishermen should be far more cautious when consuming trout from New Zealand forest streams …
Thanks to reader manukapath for this link. Have a read of the background info at fyi.org.nz, but do also scroll right down to the last entry on Feb 24th (still unanswered) by S.C. McKee, a scathing commentary on what DoC should be doing and isn’t. Questions DoC is not answering adequately. For further background on the Whitianga story type Whitianga into the search box here, or go to 1080 under ‘categories’ (left of page). Finally, for those in the Horowhenua, there was a fire in a 1080 storage facility (Horizons) in Levin that the Council did not know about until a week later with word from at least one person of health effects following. Read the article here.
QUOTE:
“Question 1 ( under OIA)
Whom did you inform about the storage of the ecotoxic baits in the Liquor King building? ( from June 8th to October 17th )
Question 2 ( under OIA)
When you read the MSDS, why did you not prepare an emergency response plan knowing that in the worst case scenario of a warehouse fire, extremely toxic gas ( hydrogen fluoride) would be produced, requiring evacuation of anyone in its path?
Question 3 ( under OIA)
When you read the MSDS, you would have read that firemen attending a fire of the baits would have to be trained in the use of breathing apparatus. Why did you not check with the fire chief that they had that equipment and that his staff were trained in the use of breathing apparatus?
It is not responsible to simply dismiss my questions as fear-mongering .
Every organisation has to have health and safety and emergency plans for a worst-case scenario. School teachers when taking students on a walk or a school trip have to do a Risk-Assessment and plan for contingencies. Managing hazardous substances such as 23,700 kg of Class A1 ecotoxic baits carries with it a huge responsibility for health and safety. Especially it being stored in the middle of a town.
Under the Health and Safety at Work ( Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2017 from December 1st 2017, you are most certainly required have to have an emergency response plan.
The HSNO Controls for Sodium fluroroacetate cereal-based pellets state the following:
You need an emergency response plan.
Refer to the Emergency Preparation section of Your Practical Guide.
You need to refer to the safety data sheets for your substances to find out what personal protective equipment people using each substance need to wear. Also refer to the Keep Safe with Hazardous Substances section of Your Practical Guide.Under HSE, all substances require the use of protective clothing.
You need secondary containment.
Under the Official Information Act, I expect to receive a reply within 20 days, else I may complain to the Ombudsman.
WAYNE WILLIAMS WAS AT THE COURT IN THAMES FOR THE WHOLE TRIAL – THIS IS HIS VERSION OF THE PROCEEDINGS
“Right from the opening statements the prosecution was painting a picture of Graeme Sturgeon as a real hell-raising rebel. Twisting facts, pressuring for mistakes. It’s pretty obvious in the security video if you look at the continuation of ( security guard ) Richard Lane’s movements. After wrenching the door open he lunged inside, punching Graeme at this stage. Completely disorientating him.
Now Lane commented here that he thought Graeme was reaching for a weapon. A convenient statement to justify his illegal entry. At no time did he stop and/or say anything to alert Graeme. This was a cowardly ambush. Even the judge repeatedly picked up on this heinous omission.
Why were better options not taken ? His reaction was “Basically I assumed he ( Graeme ) was trying to arm himself”. The fact that Lane was unlicensed at this point was factored in, but not emphasised enough as to have a big bearing on it Just noted. The truck driver who was within a few metres distance repeatedly claimed that he could see Graeme punching Lane and kicking him in the stomach. But this was proven to be inaccurate because of very limited light and because Lane was actually obscuring his viewpoint. This witness repeatedly fumbled replies, trying to stick to the rehearsed fabrication. He even made the statement that he was afraid Graeme was going to actually drive into his truck. Panicky at this point, he was. But yet he was still considered a credible witness later in the judge’s summing up.
Next up Graeme Sturgeon took the stand. He was very firm in his recollection of events up to being assaulted by Lane. Then understandably shaken up. He denied kicking Lane. And the video does clearly show him swinging punches in defense. I only saw one actually connect with Lanes head. A glance. We watched this video probably 20 times, and at slow speeds as well.
Lane claimed he had a sore jaw for a month, and a sore stomach for a couple of days. Now at no time was any first aid offered to Graeme.
Lane was on a mission, also harassing Dr. Wendy Pond and Diana Halstead. Lane also claimed there were half a dozen protestors with placards out the front so he was expecting trouble. This was another wildly inaccurate statement used to justify his actions. In fact there were onlythree people and it was not obvious that they were protestors. They had no placards.
So that was the the end of Day One and the subsequent unprofessionalism of the reporter there meant Graeme Sturgeon got a roasting in the news report – trial and conviction by media. Before the verdict. We just want fair representation from media. That’s not too much to ask.
Onto day two. Little big Wendy. First up. Very well spoken. Knowledgeable. Accurate. And she wouldn’t let the prosecution rattle her, actually calling the officer ridiculous.
And our next witness Diana Halstead also spoke very well. She stuck to her points even when the prosecutor repeatedly tried to twist her version of events and timing of headlights etc. Her reason for being there was being with Graeme. She was shocked by Lane’s thuggery. And then she told of the police officer who attended – and getting a very mediocre response. He spoke to DoC staff first and did not even check Graeme’s injuries. He was just there to basically take down time sequence events, and to organize statements at a later date, as the security detail had disappeared with the 1080 poison-loaded trucks by this time.
So overall it was a complete fabrication to try and make the case. But I don’t think this was a clear cut result, as it could easily have gone the other way. So those three seconds of door opening ( Graeme Sturgeon’s vehicle ) which were hidden from view were critical to the point that the judge was quite correct in summing up. There is no evidence that either threw the first punch and Graeme undoubtedly was acting in self defense against an extremely savage attack from Lane. Case dismissed. Victory for us.”
Photo – Graeme Sturgeon after being punched by Richard Lane
Header Photo: Outside the Whitianga Courthouse, TV Wild screen shot
This whole raruraru (trouble) in Whitianga and beyond, demonstrates that the Department of Conservation is dysfunctional, and treats local residents and local government alike with arrogance.
The public experiences the Department of Conservation as a law unto itself. It does not inform local authorities, it does not follow its own consultation guidelines, and it breaches statutes.
For example, the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act under which DoC receives consents for aerial poisoning requires :
caution where there is scientific or technical uncertainty ( Section 7);
‘Highly toxic’ according to the manufacturer’s 1080 data sheet which also warns: Do not burn the product as highly toxic hydrogen fluoride gas may be released. The Horowhenua DC didn’t even know there had been a fire until one week later.
FIRE FIGHTING MEASURES:
The pellets have a low flammability risk unless pre-heated, however the thermal decomposition (burning) of products containing sodium fluoroacetate (1080) releases
hydrogen fluoride gas which is very toxic. Emergency response and firefighting measures for major fires should be taken only by trained professionals using SCBA. Evacuation of adjacent and downwind premises will be necessary in the case of large fires involving 1080 products. Hazchem is 2XE. Data Sheet
The article below doesn’t clearly state whether the baits were burned or not although it’s stated there was no risk to environment or health as “all run-off associated with putting out the fire was contained onsite”. So there was contaminated water presumably but what of the air? Was anybody reading this warned of any inherent breathing dangers during the fire?One person on social media has reported health effects including headaches, kidney pains, nausea and tiredness. I assume they wish to remain anonymous as they’ve not responded to my questions.
According to the data sheets, storers should DEFINITELY be letting people in near proximity know about stored 1080,at the very least by signage, and the Fire Chiefs should be notified so if there is a fire they won’t be endangered by 1080 contact. An OIA request by NO to 1080 use in NZ has revealed that the HDC (Horowhenua DC) did not know of the fire until a week later! (See article below). * Curious given they are all under the same umbrella.
If you live in the vicinity of where this fire took place and you have unexplained health issues from that date (19 January 2018) this could shed some light on things… you should seek medical help. Symptoms of poisoning from the data sheet are as follows: Nausea, vomiting, tingling and numbness in face and hands, stomach pains, apprehension and anxiety. Later Symptoms: Muscular twitching, blurred vision, mental confusion. Severe Symptoms: Coma, convulsions
This all highlights the dangers of storage of this poison. Were any Horowhenua people warned that 1080 was stored in Levin? I’m keen to hear. This is particularly important if the storage site is in or adjacent to residential areas without the public knowing, as per the recent discovery in the Whitianga CBD. In that instance a person in a neighbouring house could smell the cinnamon from the baits as they were being unloaded (described in the video here), and not in accordance with DoC’s own rules.
It must be remembered that sodium monofluoroacetate (Compound 1080) is a World Health Organisation Class 1A Eco-toxin, with no known antidote, and banned in most countries.
Note to Horowhenua & Kapiti residents:There was to be an aerial drop of 1080 further south of Levin some time this month (Feb 2018) however this may not happen it seems. DoC’s website will have details of that. Educate yourself on the dangers of 1080 because mainstream is not. Watch the doco ‘Poisoning Paradise’ … you’ll learn some truth about 1080 in our waterways and the non removal of carcasses from those by the authorities. More than just target species are killed and many folk have lost their pet dogs to 1080. See our 1080 pages and search for articles on topic under ‘categories’ at left of the front page.
Here are the articles from mainstream about the Levin fire:
NZ Herald
A fire at Horizons Regional Council’s pest control depot in Levin has sparked an investigation.
Controversial pest control poison 1080 was stored in a Levin depot that was burgled and torched last week.
The fire tore through the Horizons Regional Council depot on Thursday night, destroying equipment and melting vehicles.
Fire services put out the blaze, but police said there were also signs of a burglary.
Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney said the council was alerted to the fire early on Friday morning.
Manawatu Detective Sergeant Philip Skoglund said someone had cut through the yard’s wire fence the same night, and the building had been forced open.
“There looks like there may have been some items removed but we are not sure what they are,” he said.
Skoglund said the burglar may have forced access to a commercial fridge but that was yet to be determined.
“At this point it looks to be suspicious,” he said.
A burglar may have forced access to a commercial fridge, but this was yet to be determined.
A neighbour said he believed that the refrigerator contained 1080 but, after questions from the Horowhenua Chronicle, McCartney confirmed on Tuesday 1080 was held in a secure pesticide store in the building, though not in the fridge.
He said Horizons was still taking an inventory of items after the fire, but “all run-off associated with putting out the fire was contained onsite and there are no environmental or health concerns”.
* Hot off the press and highly relevant as a follow-up to the Whitianga court case: An OIA response from Mid Central DHB regarding the fire in the warehouse in Levin last month, which contained 1080 poison, has revealed that the council did not know about the fire until the newspaper reports a week later!The Medical Officer of Health (who is required to make the call about whether an evacuation or other action is an advisable precaution for local residents’ safety), was therefore not even aware of the potential dangers.
Quote: ” In this particular incident, our service (DHB) was not notified by Fire and Emergency New Zealand; we became aware of the event through a subsequent media release. No information was supplied to the Medical Officer of Health at the time of the fire, and consequently no risk assessment was undertaken.”
This beggars belief at the level of incompetence that continues to put us all in danger. We do not know how MUCH poison was stored there, but under the new H&S legislation, there could have been up to 99 tonnes of cereal bait stored without any notification to Fire and Emergency NZ.
Here’s a thought: What would have happened if the 1080 poison stored at Whitianga CBD had caught light, with supermarkets, cars and houses all around it? Wouldn’t we assume that a H&S and firefighters’ protocol had been followed and an emergency call had been made to the local council and DHB Medical Officer? Time is of the essence in events like this, which can change in an instant.
Has NOTHING been learned from that tragic event in 1984 (p7 at the link) where the fire in ICI’s hazardous chemicals warehouse in Auckland caused so much harm (and maybe still is today, through contamination of the site, landfill and water)?
No to 1080 use in NZ (Facebook page)
UPDATE:
Horowhenua’s Mayor Michael Feyen has posted on his FB page a video saying this will be investigated. He has historically been a whistleblower prior to becoming Mayor and currently, if you follow the HDC events, is frequently asked by HDC councillors to resign. Our Local Govt Watch pages provide info on that. Watch for more updates.
For further info on the still unfolding Whitianga incident over stored 1080 go here. Or use categories (left of page) or the search box.
The Crown vs Graeme Sturgeon – 1080 Poison Assault – “Charges Dismissed” … here’s the post-decision video interview …
THE WORST THREE MONTHS GRAEME AND JULIE STURGEON HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED
So very, very wrong what these good people were put through.
Graeme Sturgeon is interviewed here by Clyde and Steve Graf. Frankly speaking, I feel privileged to know such amazing people.
Yet despite what Graeme and Julie have been through, as Graeme says here they will not give up the fight to save their water and wildlife.
Other heroes to me are hardworking and generous-spirited John and Denise Allen, who organised a campsite on the outskirts of Thames and set up to cater for however many people turned up – up to 300 people if necessary.
Fighting 1080 poison is fighting the NZ government. There is no environmental battle harder than that.
So much of the time it feels impossible, futile – insane even – to be trying to stop this taxpayer-funded, propagandised industry, where helicopter companies like EPRO and HeliOtago make many tens of millions every year; where senior management in DoC and OSPRI are on salaries they could never hope to replicate, even closely, in the private sector; where trucking firms like those owned by Trojan Holdings ( Northern Southland Transport, Upper Clutha Transport, Cromwell Transport ), transport all the 1080 required in the lower South Island all the way from Whanganui in the North Island to points south; where the factory that manufactures all the 1080 baits in NZ, Animal Control Products, ( trading as Orillion ), in Whanganui,, has two nominal directors – the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture – and has a chairman, Terry Murdoch, who is an owner of Christchurch Helicopters Ltd – which company has a contract with DoC re orange-fronted parakeet translocation and has Dept of Conservation written on their helicopters ! Oh, and let us not forget one of the owners of Christchurch Helicopters is national All Black hero Richie McCaw…. Carol Sawyer
Photo: screen shot from TV Wild’s interview
For previous articles about the assault on Graeme Sturgeon go to this link or go to 1080 at categories at the left of news page.
Great news that this case has been thrown out. Fairly quiet from mainstream on that yesterday. An article link from this morning (21 Feb) has been published by Stuff.co.nz (see below).
Here are the updates as published at Facebook thanks to Carol Sawyer. (Go here for our previous coverage of Graeme’s story).
Graeme Sturgeon after the assault
THAMES, COROMANDEL – GRAEME STURGEON – CASE DISMISSED !
20 Feb 2018
Perhaps everyone would like to be reminded about the Police Summary of Facts which should now be retitled the Summary of Lies ! ( Unfortunately, the aggressor, Richard Lane appears to have got away scot free).
Also, here is Graeme Sturgeon’s statement, made at the time of the assault on him by “security guard” Richard Lane :
STATEMENT BY GRAEME STURGEON RE UNPROVOKED ASSAULTS BY DoC SECURITY IN PUBLIC CARPARK, WHITIANGA CBD, 17 OCT. 2017
“Statement made after the events of Tuesday 17 th October behind Liquor King in Whitianga :
.
I was camped with four other people on a property up Kaimarama Road awaiting an 1080 Airdrop that was due to go into the area the following morning.
About eight o’clock we receive a message to say there was a strong smell of 1080 in the housing estate behind Liquor King and DOC was loading trucks with 1080 there in the middle of town.
We were anxious to get photos of such a crazy action
so I drove into Whitianga. The directions given were a bit hazy so upon spotting Liquor King I drove up the road alongside Liquor King and around the back of the building. As I turned the right angle corner at the back of the building I came upon 5 or six trucks that I had not seen until that moment.
I stopped and was in the process of taking off my seat belt when my door flew open and I was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged from my vehicle. So much happened in the next few seconds that I am a bit hazy about, after receiving a brutal fist in the face. I remember a woman’s raised voice and seeing a
Security Guard standing there in front of me saying ‘Well he is bigger than me’
As my nose was bleeding I staggered back to my vehicle to get some tissues to be told that I was not getting into my vehicle as it was staying where it was until the police arrived. I was happy enough with that. I then became aware that both the inside and outside locking system of the driver’s door was broken and the door hinges appeared bent as the door would not close very well. I could not lock the door.
While we waited I was told that Diana Halstead and Dr Pond had also been assaulted as DoC Security Staff entered their vehicles and attempted to take their keys from them. The trucks reversed out from behind the building and set off up to the Kaimarama Road. The Police arrived after about an hour and went inside the building to, I presume, interview DOC Staff. It was only at that time that I realised that the building contained DOC Offices.
The Constable finally emerged and began to question us and take photos including the broken door on my vehicle and my shirt and jacket that had just about been torn from my back. He was pleasant and did a very thorough job I thought. It was agreed that we would go to Coromandel Police Station and make a detailed statement to Morrisey as soon as possible.”
A Coromandel conservation group is calling for a halt to regional funding of toxin use on private land for wild animal control.
The Upper Coromandel Landcare Assocation (UCLA) is asking Waikato Regional Council to suspend any further cash grants to “community” groups for placement of toxin 1080 and anticoagulant rat poisons on private properties on the peninsula.
UCLA cited a $41,000 grant to the Moehau Environment Group, a local contractor to WRC, for placement this summer of the poisons in bait stations on hundreds of hectares in Port Charles in an operation opposed by many landowners in the small community. In addition to concerns over secondary poisoning of protected native species and inhumane controls generally, local residents have objected to extreme danger from toxic animal carcasses on neighbouring properties, as well as poisons entering the food chain.
A recent memorandum from the Department of Conservation confirmed that 1080 resides in the environment and food chain after placement. The toxin has been implicated in the near-fatal poisoning of three Waikato residents after they ate wild pork.
According to UCLA spokesperson Reihana Robinson, there are safe, affordable, and acceptable alternatives to use of residual toxins, including trapping and hunting. “The $41,000 MEG grant, much of which covered 1080 poisoning on the property of the group’s own coordinator and her neighbour, is a dangerous, irresponsible, and wasteful use of regional rates dollars.”
“Locals cannot walk dogs safely along the main road, children cannot safely explore up the Tangiaro Valley, families can not harvest nutritional wild food, and unsuspecting landowners may wind up with hazardous toxins on their own properties,” Robinson said. “And as for our tourism-based economy, visitors are being greeted with kilometres of skull-and-crossbone warning signs instead of the pristine bush they expected.”
“We are not talking conservation estate or protection of crown land. This is public funding of dangerous poisons on private properties within metres of property lines and roads, with toxins potentially migrating onto other people’s land.”
UCLA notes that hundreds of thousands of ratepayer dollars are being directed by the regional council this term to so-called “community groups” for possum, rat, and mustelid control with little or no accountability and without wider community support.
“It’s easy for council staff to farm out control work with a few big cheques to a few eco-contractors,” Robinson said. “But unfortunately, it is harmful not only to the environment, but to ratepayers and residents, and to regional council’s own relations with the wider community.”
That balanced biodiversity (Kapiti Island’s) is still a dream on the mainland, but in the first months of 2018, it will come significantly closer after a TBfree aerial 1080 possum control operation knocks down possums and rats across a large chunk of TB vector risk area – 11,000 hectares of bush and forest along the foothills of the Tararua Ranges, between the Akatarawa Road in the south and the Otaki River in the north. Michelle Edge OSPRI CEO December 2017
‘Poison Rain’ calls for an end to 1080 poison and other rodenticides in New Zealand, poison that is banned in many countries. The song asks for a better solution to be found, one that does not involve tons of poison continually tipped on New Zealand’s native forests.
Singer-Songwriter Aly Cook as she releases a newly commissioned song ‘Poison Rain’. (Electronic Acoustic Adult Contemporary) The song has been “self penned” and co produced with Jay Pheye in his little Golden Bay Studio and mastered by Benny Tones. ‘Poison Rain’ is now available for pre-sale on Itunes with the official release being on Friday 9th of Feb.
The song may be purchased from the links below.
All proceeds from the sale of ‘Poison Rain’ will go back into paid promotion of the TV Wild video and the song to the public and to continue the lobby to the NZ Government TO BAN the USE of 1080 and similar aerial dropped poisons. :
‘Poison Rain’ calls for an end to 1080 poison and other rodenticides in New Zealand, poison that is banned in many countries. The song asks for a better solution to be found, one that does not involve tons of poison continually tipped on New Zealand’s native forests.
Aly Cook became intent on looking into 1080 poison after a conversation she had with friends whofeatured on a TV Wild Video. New Zealand farmers were interviewed in the video who had all suffered stock losses from 1080 poison drops. These farmers had been instructed by various government departments to put their compensation payouts down to ‘track maintenance’ or ‘stock food’, after their animals had tested positive for 1080 poisoning. Other farmers were asked to sign confidentiality clauses. watch the video here
This conversation lead Aly to look more into safe ways to reduce the number of stoats, rats and possums in the NZ bush. If there was nothing to hide, the farmers would not have been instructed to lie on an invoice.The more Aly looked into it, the more oxymorons she found. DOC claims 1080 did not kill invertebrates… yet 1080 was developed as an insecticide.
Aly says … “There are lies everywhere covering up, for example, the recent ‘so called’ botulism case in which a family who had consumed wild pork were hospitalised due to life-threatening illness.
The hunter’s dog died the day the wild pork was collected . After eating the pork it made the family so violently ill that they were thrashing around and the hospital staff had to strap them into their beds for days”.
The family tested negative for botulism yet they were not tested for 1080 poisoning until 18 days later following a lawyer being engaged by the family. I urge kiwis to watch this documentary and also think about what this is doing to our clean and green image. We have to find a better solution to pest control than this”.
WHY DID THE AUTHORITIES NOT CONTACT THE PIG HUNTER WHO SOLD THE POISONED FAMILY THE WILD PIG ?!
This comment is from Lloyd Hanson a NZ hunter of 53 yrs experience. He raises some important questions that reflect more inconsistencies in the case of the poisoned Waikato family:
There is a lot of misinformation coming from mainly the pro poison side so here is a small attempt to rectify this :
Here is my opinion, based on over 30 years studying 1080, hunting and observing 1080 aerial drops on the ground. Also as an ex possum hunter I know the bush well.
LD50 rates/pig/human are irrelevant as this is the amount it is meant to take to KILL the animal/human concerned, not to cause ILLNESS, and in the human case has never been studied extensively so the rate is……..?????
Clyde Graf, Steve Graf and I observed a margin 1080 aerial drop in the Teme Valley, Marlborough a few years back, and after 12 hours we discovered 7 dead red deer hinds and a 50kg pig dead in the river.
We found the deer that we believe the pig had fed on, and it had eaten out the paunch (gut) area which resulted in it’s death a few hours later !
The deer of course had taken a lot more pellets than was necessary to reach its LD50 rate as one could stand in one place under the helicopter’s course and observe several pellets, making it easy for the hind to smell and pick up the scented cereal based baits in a short time period.
Now in the case of the poisoned wild pork consumed by the Indian people who were admitted to hospital in a critical condition :
The hunter who caught the pig was hunting in an aerial 1080’d block! He may have been unaware, as some hunters have access through the back of farms or through isolated, unsigned areas.
He may have been using holding dogs which latch onto the head or ear area if possible, and will bite somewhere to get a grip, resulting in ingestion of blood or saliva from the pig. It depends on how long it takes the hunter to get to the pig how much blood can be ingested ! Also some hunters feed offal to their dogs to reward them for their effort at the time of capture.
The word on the street is that this pig hunter’s dog was fed the heart of the pig.
It is unknown how deadly this poison is to humans. It may well be as toxic to humans as it is to dogs. No testing is done on humans and the research used to defend the poison is mostly anecdotal from years ago.
I will only cover this aspect of the whole sorry affair but will leave you with this thought:
How come Ministry of Primary Industries, or Waikato District Health Board, or NZ Police didn’t contact the hunter concerned, because if these people had died it could have been a manslaughter case, could it not? The poisoned family’s lawyer managed to contact him without a bother !
Lloyd Hanson
Hunter for 53 years.”
Postscript : The dog died, presumed to be of poison. See this film “DHB coverup” for the whole story :
and see this older article ( 10 December, 2017 ) by a neuroscientist, on the same topic of the poisoned Waikato family, which has some interesting info on 1080 in pigs :
Does anyone out there know a forensic pathologist – a medical expert – who can make a determination on what poison is likely to have caused the following effects-symptoms in the poisoned family from Putaruru? The family that the Waikato DHB said was suffering from botulism? (If so, please email tvwild@xtra.co.nz – in confidence, or contact through messenger on FB).
Points to note
Shibu, one of the victims, stated he believed the poisoning was caused by 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) based on what he recalled the pig hunter had told him when receiving the pig, and upon gaining consciousness after 3 weeks in a coma. The pig hunter also reportedly told Shibu that the pig was fine to feed to his family (as is also stated by DoC, TBFree and regional councils – you’d need to consume a huge amount of poisoned flesh to get a dose that would harm you).
The New Zealand Government-owned factory that imports and manufacturers the baits currently says it’s mix is 0.15% pure 1080 in bait. And that just 30 grams of bait, or 2 and a half standard sized 12 gram baits, may kill an adult human. 166 of these twelve gram baits are currently spread (@ 2kg bait/Ha) across every hectare of land and water in New Zealand aerial operations. Enough bait to kill over 60 million people every year… https://www.pestoff.co.nz/assets/sds1080pellets.pdf
Also note – Shibu stated that the pig hunter told him that his dog had died on the same day, assumed to be from 1080 poison.Also note – over 70% of New Zealand’s forests are aerially spread with 1080 poison every 2 – 3 years … the poison is spread across forests, and also across all waterways within those forests, in most aerial operations around New Zealand. (See www.tvwild.co.nz for information about aerial operations across New Zealand)
Here are the symptoms to consider …
Symptoms mentioned in medical notes:
Vomiting
Abdominal pain
Agitated
Confused
Groaning
Reduced verbal response
Vocal paralysis
Muscle weakness
Opthalmoplegia (paralysis of muscles within or surrounding the eyes)
Pupils sluggish
Eyes rolling back in head
Reduced GCS (eye, verbal and motor response)
Tachycardia
Spontaneous jerky movements
Hypotonia
Biting
Personality change
Aggression
Sweaty
Fever
Delirium
Tremors
Repetitive muscle twitching and eye flickering
Dystonic posturing of legs
Spasmodic rigid movements
Legs flipping backwards 180 degrees
Legs in frog position
Flailing arms and legs that need to be restrained to avoid injury
Arms out to side or above head
Convulsions that required six staff members to hold the patient down
Tonic clonic seizures
Difficulty swallowing
Fatigue
Autonomic dysfunction
Afebrile
Muscle pain
Rising inflammatory markers
Elevated levels of CK (highest about 5000)
Facial grimacing
Unresponsive to pain
Tongue protrusion at times
Cough
Arching and flinging head, arms and legs against side rails
Incoherent
Unconscious
Pachymeningeal thickening
Inability to think clearly
Crying
Wailing
The family of a Mataura possum hunter who died from 1080 poisoning 43 years ago want his death publicly acknowledged by the Department of Conservation and Animal Health Board.
Both agencies say no-one has died of accidental 1080 poisoning in New Zealand.
But Ian Buchanan’s widow, 69-year-old Elva Wicks, of Invercargill, said that was not true.
Wicks was 25 years old and the mother of three young children when her first husband, Ian Buchanan, died a “ghastly death” in Dunedin Hospital in 1966.
Coroner J Murray found Buchanan died from “central nervous system depression accompanied by respiratory and cardiac failure due to 1080 poisoning”.
The poison was found by investigators in a tin of jam kept in a back porch cupboard, but it was never discovered how the poison came to be in the jam, or how Buchanan consumed the 1080.
“If DOC and the AHB say they haven’t heard anything about Ian’s death it’s because they don’t want to hear,” Wicks said.
“It is documented on his death certificate – how can they deny it?”
AHB spokeswoman Anne McLean said the manner of Buchanan’s death was unclear.
DOC spokesman Rory Newsam said the department was unaware of Buchanan’s death until alerted by the media this week.
I’ve spent the last few weeks reading the medical notes of the Kochumman family that was poisoned through eating wild boar, and my reading has worried me. Not just because of the vomiting, the inability to speak and the violent convulsions that required the family to be strapped to their hospital beds for weeks. But because the first working diagnosis by the registrar on the day the family was admitted to hospital was “consumption of meat containing poison used for possum/rodent killing ? neurotoxin ? 1080 ? strychnine poisoning which can produce a picture of lactic acidosis, nausea, vomiting, altered mental state and convulsions …. I cannot come up with an alternative pathology for raised lactate. May need to see if the police can test the meat for neurotoxins.”
1080 is repeated in the working diagnosis over and over again by different doctors over the weeks that the family was unconscious. Blood and urine samples had been taken. The curry that had been consumed had been given to the Medical Officer of Health, so why did no one test for 1080?
Instead a botulism antitoxin was quickly administered and the media was told that it was working. Does “working” mean the patients’ condition worsened? Because it did in fact worsen in almost all respects. A doctor said one patient’s condition had been worsening for 6/7 days. His inflammatory markers were sky high, his CK (creatine kinase) reaching 5000. The ADDS system confirmed the patient’s deteriorating condition. Clearly my understanding of the “botulism antitoxin working” is different to that of the DHB. Many people, including the international Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), advised that this wasn’t likely to be botulism. Doctors kept recording 1080 poison in the working diagnosis, but 1080 tests were not done on the food, on the patients’ vomit, stomach contents, or blood.
Finally, the patients’ urine was tested for 1080, 18 days after hospitalisation. Possibly coincidentally, the 1080 tests were done a week after the DHB received an Official Information Act request asking for the toxicology results from this case. Unfortunately the Landcare Research protocol for testing 1080 in urine requires that it be tested within two days of the sample being taken, so the negative result is less than reliable. The timing of the 1080 test and its lack of compliance with the protocol was not disclosed to the media. In contrast, full botulism tests were done on the patients and on the food and these all came back negative. So did a range of other tests for substances that were far less likely than 1080.
The New Zealand government owns the factory that manufactures 1080 baits for pest control. Government agencies spread these baits aerially and DO NOT remove the poisoned carcasses that are scavenged by wild pigs. We have a duty of care to not only do pest control in a way that minimises harm to the food chain, but also to put people’s welfare first. The least we can do is test for 1080 when people are convulsing on a hospital bed and doctors agree that the symptoms indicate 1080 poisoning.
Look at the medical notes, and decide for yourself in the video called DHB coverup – Politics before patient welfare for wild boar poisoned family. https://youtu.be/j6i4pZ5RYI4
Kathy White
Kathy White is the Waikato Regional Councillor for Taupo-Rotorua. This is her personal view.
This latest interview is from the GrafBoys (TV Wild) revealing more from the family who were poisoned from eating wild pork, likely by all appearances from a 1080 treated area. Basically a trail of flip flops from day one, it all reeks of cover up in what looks like a scramble to exclude 1080 as a possible cause. I mean, not testing the meal for 1080 at all? Not testing the family’s urine until after the required timeline for testing has expired? This is not rocket science and it is not the first time the NZ health authorities have bungled in the field of testing for correct diagnosis. Back in 2006 a NZ medical doctor suspected 1080 poisoning as the cause of death in a young woman, and subsequently the NZ lab charged with testing her heart to confirm or rule out this possibility lost her heart.
See links to the the TV Wild channel at the video on Youtube (click on YT icon, bottom right of video). For the history of this story go to this page or for all 1080 posts find 1080 under categories at left of the page. For more info on 1080 see our 1080 pages at the main menu. (See updates below from Kathy White). EnvirowatchRangitikei
Further comments from Waikato Regional Councillor Kathy White:
I’ve spent the last few weeks reading the medical notes of the Kochumman family that was poisoned through eating wild boar. Here are the things that have resonated with me: (1) the first working diagnosis by the registrar on the day the family was admitted to hospital was “consumption of meat containing poison used for possum/rodent killing ? neurotoxin ? 1080 ? strychnine poisoning which can produce a picture of lactic acidosis, nausea, vomiting, altered mental state and convulsions. Saying this, the differential remains wide, although we do not think this is infection … I cannot come up with an alternative pathology for raised lactate. May need to see if the police can test the meat for neurotoxins.”
If this was the working diagnosis from Day One, why did the authorities not test any of the food for 1080 poison or its metabolites? Why did they not test the patients for 1080 poisoning until 18 days later? The medical notes show doctors were waiting for a 1080 test result. And yet someone made the decision not to do these tests, or to at least delay them. Unfortunately, testing urine for 1080 18 days after hospitalisation does not fit with testing protocol and renders the test unreliable.
Kathy White is the Waikato Regional Councillor for Taupo-Rotorua. This is her personal view.
Follow this link for a further press release from Kathy White:
NZ now has a Poison Industrial Complex (PIC) which deliberately targets the media with good news propaganda justifying it’s continued existence. If you don’t believe this read the latest book by Reihana Robinson exposing New Zealand’s PIC, available on Amazon.
“Environmental activist and researcher Reihana Robinson explodes the carefully cultivated myth of New Zealand as the “Clean and Green” paradise of the South Pacific. While her country’s government and tourism industry promote images of exotic native bush, rare avian species, clean running streams, and untainted farms, Robinson lays bare New Zealand’s “Dirty Little Environmental Secret” – the wholesale poisoning of the landscape with one of the world’s deadliest poisons to combat pest species, all in the name of “conservation”. New Zealand stands alone in the world for its widespread and growing use of the supertoxin “1080, spread by helicopter over hundreds of thousands of hectares of conservation land, rolling hills, and even into waterways and drinking water catchments. The toxin, made in batches at a small factory in backwoods Alabama USA and shipped to far-off Kiwiland, deals a grisly death to all oxygen-breathing species – among them countless birds, deer, mice, frogs, eels, and invertebrates of all description. While failing to achieve proven conservation gains, New Zealand’s poison-industrial complex taints more and more of the country’s pristine natural wealth with each passing year. Robinson recounts the surprising history of her country’s unusual and failing attempt to poison its way to a clean environment, and with classic investigative reporting and research, exposes the conflicts and professional intrigue that keep the poison flowing. Robinson chronicles the fightback by environmentalists, animal welfare advocates, and growing numbers in the scientific community against the increasing use of the poison in what has become an unhealthy growth industry protected by the New Zealand government. Her expose is a must-read for every student of environmental science – and an important introduction to “the real New Zealand” for tourists and international travelers expecting just the opposite.”
See the Resources page at the 1080 tab at the main menu for further links to info on 1080. Watch Poisoned Paradise, the award winning film that NZ tv channels refuse to play.
“The following New Zealand film has won 4 international environmental awards – but here in NZ, TV channels refuse to play it. Why? Because if they did, there would be outrage and riots over New Zealand’s use of aerially applied 1080 poison. See for yourself … ” From TheGrafBoys‘ Youtube Channel
For over 15 years the New Zealand Government has been systematically dropping massive amounts of food, laced with a cruel and universally toxic poison into its forest ecosystems. Enough poison every year to kill the entire population of NZ four times over. No other country is doing, or ever has done, anything remotely similar on such a scale.
Sodium Fluoroacetate
Animals poisoned by 1080 die a long, slow and horrible death
1080 is an alias for Monofluoroacetate, a chemical. It blocks a particular step in the Krebs Cycle (Citric Acid Cycle) which is essential for the metabolism of oxygen in every cell of every animal. It kills everything that breathes air, everything from earthworms to elephants, including native birds. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies 1080 as ‘Extremely Hazardous’, most countries ban it outright. NZ uses 85% of the world’s supply … I’m not sure what that means but I guess the world hasn’t figured out what a wonderful thing it really is.
Dr Q Whiting-OKeefe (BA Chemistry, Math), MD, FACMI
Poisoning our water
In Oct 2014 two of Auckland’s water supply lakes were closed for four months because the herbicide metsulfuron-methyl has been found in them. Soon afterwards, Auckland City Council announced that they planned to drop 1080 on the Hunua Ranges, the source of their water supply. The Greymouth Star reported on Oct 16 2014 that the West Coast Regional Council had admitted they have a $500,00 investment in a new factory that is considering themanufacture of 1080 near Christchurch. A metabolic poison, 1080 is extremely toxic to all air-breathing organisms. In most countries it is banned outright or severely restricted because of its lethality and its indiscriminate killing power. For further information on 1080 (NZ uses about 90% of the world’s production!) read here: http://ban1080.co.nz/1080-facts/
“I MAY HAVE BEEN THE BRINGER OF DEATH. BUT NOT SUFFERING. ALSO I DIDN’T KILL WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAVE, AS IN THE BIRDS”
Back in the mid 1990s I was awarded an eradication contract with a forestry administration company in the Wairarapa. My job was to eradicate anything that had four legs, a tail, and a head from 6000 hectares of farm land. This farm land was bought by an overseas investor and was being planted in pines. The original contract ran for two years until the pines had established themselves.
In the contract I could remove from the property any, if not all the dead animals I wanted. This arrangement would give me a fairly good income from possum fur on top of the contract fee. So I thought.
To do the job efficiently I split things up into categories and times. For instance sheep and cattle in daylight. Possums at night. Rabbits and hares at night. Deer at night. Goats in daylight. Pigs in daylight and night. Traps and cyanide laid in daylight, and so on. Then the days and nights were split to target specific animals. If I was targeting rabbits and hares on a particular night, all the deer, sheep, etc were left alone. OK, I did take out the odd deer, pig and possum. No two consecutive nights had the same target.
For those wondering how I can see things at night, not very many nights are pitch black and you do get used to it over time. Also I used to have a small hand torch strapped to my shoulder to help when I was rolling a smoke. The kill light was a million candlepower handheld spotlight hooked into the motorbike. Also a 500 candlepower battery-run backpack spotlight for when I had to leave the bike.
As with most people working days or night shift I had my break times. These break times coincided with me reaching particular parts of the farm. These places were sheltered spots and mostly near native bush. A couple were right on the boundary with a conservation property. Another spot was beside an area of manuka that had been crush-rolled so they could plant in amongst it. It was in these areas when you switched off the lights and engine of the four wheeler that you could lay back on the ground and appreciate the noises made by the night life. Kiwis calling, nightingales flitting around, moreporks calling. The odd hedgehog coming in to see what you have for smoko.
Then the night up by the crushed manuka, two little moreporks landing on the front carrier of the bike with their big eyes sort of asking what’s for dinner. Parent sitting on the fence watching both myself and them.
The next night I returned at about the same time, this time with cut up rabbit. I waited around for a while and they didn’t turn up so I left pieces of rabbit on the ground and on the fence posts. Two nights later I was back in the area and with a bit of possum was going to leave them a feed. The lights picked them up sitting on the fence as I was going down the track. To keep a long story short, over time I could get fairly close to them but not quite hand feed them.
Meanwhile back in the other spots the night life could get rowdy on occasions. I used to take out the odd person with me for a hunt and they loved sitting in these places listening. A lot of them never realised just how much night life was in the bush.
Well all this changed the day the council twats turned up. OK, I won’t go into details about what was said etc, but they ended up hand laying 1080 and I wasn’t leaving. I had a job to do. These guys laid bait on the main tracks in places that thick that if you put your No 11 boot down you stood on at least 3 baits. You couldn’t tell them that where they were laying baits there weren’t any possums, rats, stoats, etc. As far as they were concerned I didn’t know anything or how to catch them. So my 40 odd traps that had been in this particular area along with cyanide baits for last 4 months were all wrong. Only things I got out of that area was 3 deer, 2 pigs, and a goat. I never even found a possum after them either. To me it was a transit gully where animals passed through.
The most disturbing thing to watch is a 1080ed animal die. The pleading in their eyes as they try and drag themselves to shelter can even get to the hardiest of us. It still gets at me. I spent a lot of my time putting bullets into them instead of hunting the ones that had got away.
The birdlife at the rest spots ceased. Everything went deathly quiet. I never saw my three moreporks again. Even the hawks succumbed to 1080. I had to get off my bike and go and put the odd pig deer out of its misery.
They can make an eerie screaming noise when dying from 1080. Riding around that block at night, and in daylight after 1080 was like as if you were in a horror movie. The feeling of death all around. Not only had they eradicated their target, but also what they were supposed to save. I spent a few nights in the conservation area after they did the 1080 to see if there was any life deeper in. …. Nothing.
I may have been the bringer of death. But not suffering. Also I didn’t kill what I was trying to save, as in the birds.”
NOTE:dying from 1080 poison says a Veterinarian, is like being electrocuted for two plus days. Why is DoC allowed to do this? Please ask this question of your governmental authorities. For other articles on 1080 use the categories or search box. Further info on 1080 pages can be found at our 1080 pages at the main menu.
Very unfortunate, because although 1080 was suspected early on, they didn’t test for it until EIGHTEEN days later. As the esteemed & so called health professionals would have known at the time, testing for it after 7 days is useless as all presence of 1080 would be gone from the urine & that is according to DoC’s own documentation. So the tests would have been USELESS. (See Charles Eason’s Vertebrate Pesticides Toxicology Manual for further details). This would explain why the family had such difficulty in acquiring their medical notes in the first instance.
So … unfortunate? Or deliberate? Why in a suspected poisoning ask yourself, do you NOT test for the glaringly obvious? And even more importantly, why do you keep telling the public via the media that the diagnosis is botulism when three days in that diagnosis has been eliminated. And by a SPECIALIST. The media (stuff) was headlining ‘botulism’ on 4th December still – the poisoning occurred on 10th November. We published an article on 10th December with comments from a Neuroscientist (who wished to remain anonymous) posing questions about the diagnosis & claiming the symptoms did not match botulism:
“Rehabilitation from sub lethal 1080 poisoning is simple. Time. Botulism treatment takes a long time, years. Whereas recovery from sub lethal 1080 poisoning is much faster. This family could have been treated for alzheimers, for mumps, for shellfish poisoning, for botulism, for polio, for meningitis. The results would be the same, they would recover. The timeline of the recovery is just as diagnostic as the timeline of the illness, and the time line does NOT fit botulism” … Serena Maja, Neuroscientist
Then next up were revelations from the family through an interview by the Graf Boys at TV-Wild.
So on top of all of the above, unbelievably, they did NOT test the meat for 1080!! Is this not all screaming ‘cover up’? Go figure.
The article below is from mainstream media with the family’s lawyer expressing concern. For a change mainstream is challenging the official stories. Quite rare really, however they still fail to really nail the authorities down to a why? Why did they not test the meat, or why did they not test the family earlier? Then wander off into the possibilities of mushrooms or other plant life, still skirting that 1080 issue. The point is, the authorities in question have been caught with their proverbial pants down, and are still remaining silent.
You should be concerned that we have a large public hospital here that appears to be officially lying to the public, going by their own notes “… there was no evidence to suggest botulism”. This has implications for your future treatment should you fall ill and be at their mercy. Worse, should you fall ill from suspected 1080 poisoning, you should be very concerned in light of what happened to the young woman in 2006 whose heart incredibly, the NZ lab lost.
May we finally hear some truth on all of this.
Note: to read all articles on this topic scroll to the end of this article for a timeline, or for all articles on 1080 use the categories drop down box at left of the news page.
EnvirowatchRangitikei
Poisoned Waikato family’s medical notes concerning, lawyer says
Medical notes about a mystery poisoning that plunged three family members into a coma suggest inadequate testing, the family’s spokeswoman says.
Shibu Kochummen, 35, his wife Subi Babu, 33, and his mother Alekutty Daniel, 62, were found in a vegetative stateon the floor of their Putaruru home on November 10 shortly after eating a wild boar curry.
Botulism was the original – but incorrect – diagnosis. And nerve conduction tests as early as November 13 – three days after the trio’s hospitalisation – indicated the illness wasn’t botulism, the family’s lawyer and spokeswoman Sue Grey said after obtaining the medical notes.
“The diagnosis was that there was no evidence to suggest botulism. A specialist was asked to look at [it] and that was his conclusion. “That does raise questions about why the health board was continuing to say it was botulism for such a long time after they had so many results indicating it wasn’t.
“If that botulism thing [was] ruled out at the start when the first negative tests were coming in they would have had ACC by now.
“There are politics but you’d like to think that politics aren’t interfering with medicine.”
Grey said she hadn’t seen any food tests other than the negative botulism result from the pork dish consumed.
“When we met with the CEO on Wednesday he told us that MPI, the Ministry of Primary Industries, had done the food sample tests. So I’ve written and asked them for their information but I still haven’t got that back.”
While the MPI have an “informal” involvement in the case, they are not testing implicated food, a spokesperson said.
“The Waikato DHB is the lead agency and MPI had a very minimal involvement at the initial stages in working with ESR (Institute of Environmental Science and Research) on some testing procedures,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“We do not believe there are any public health concerns as this incident/issue appears to be confined to one particular family.”
Grey said she’s still going through the family’s notes but understands 1080 was an early suspected cause.
“That is really concerning because as far as we can ascertain at the moment, the only testing that was done on 1080 was that single test 18 days after [hospitalisation].”
Professor Steve Flint, an expert in food safety and microbiology at Massey University, said he hoped more food testing had been conducted by MPI or the DHB.
“My surprise – from what I’ve read from media reports – is that there isn’t a full scale investigation into this.
“I’m quite surprised that no one has actually looked at the food and analysed the food.”
Toxins in some kind of plant could have caused the violent illness, Flint said.
“[Wild] mushrooms can also be quite toxic. You get almost hallucinogenic.
“There’s always the possibility of something that we haven’t discovered yet, something new.
“If it is, it would be unusual but this whole scenario is unusual.
“In a country like New Zealand, you often think about our native plants and things that people may not have reported any illnesses from.
“If it’s not botulism then what is it, because we need to know.”
Waikato Regional Councilor Kathy White, having read the finally released medical notes for the Kochumman family poisoned by wild boar in Putaruru, has raised some important questions. Developments with regard to the anomalies surrounding this case have been curious to say the least. Read our previous articles and posts on topic *below.
The questions that need to be asked of both the Waikato DHB and the MPI are:
(1)1080 was the number one suspect, according to the poisoned patients’ medical notes. The Waikato DHB states that they have tested for 1080. However the date of the urine test was 18 days after hospitalisation, which is outside of the time that 1080 is detectable in urine (it is excreted from urine within seven days of ingestion – See Charles Eason’s Vertebrate Pesticides Toxicology Manual for further details). So why was this test not done within the correct time frame?
(2)(Incredibly) none of the meat collected by MPI has been tested for 1080. This was confirmed in a meeting with the WDHB yesterday. Why was it was not tested, when the patients’ medical notes say the wild boar meat should be tested for 1080?
(3)Why did they continue to say it was botulism when they knew early on that the symptoms didn’t fully align?
(4) Why has neither the WDHB nor MPI followed up with the person who provided the wild boar meat to Shibu’s family? This information is held by the WDHB. It could be a public health risk as this person has probably supplied meat to others.
*********************************
Responding to these issues was never rocket science. Why would the family’s meat not be tested for 1080? Why would you wait 18 days to test the family for 1080 knowing perfectly well that the results would be useless?
How safe people do you feel about eating your hunting catch now? These are all issues people have been trying persistently to address with little success as our country continues to be showered relentlessly with a poison that has no known antidote.
So, at 2:20 min on this video the family’s lawyer states “as far as we know the original meat samples were only tested for botulism, they weren’t tested for 1080 so we don’t believe at this stage that 1080 can be excluded”!
The Putaruru family incorrectly diagnosed with botulism poisoning is now clear for ACC cover after an urgent meeting with the family spokesperson, family lawyer, and the Waikato DHB chief. Click on the video for the full story …
On Thursday the 21st of December, 2017, TV Wild released a video interview covering the wild boar botulism poisoned family story. On Friday the 22nd of December 2017, the Waikato DHB released private client information, in response, and without patient consent, stating that 1080 poison was tested for and had returned a negative result. The family spokesperson states in this video interview that the DHB lied to the public about the test results …
For a comprehensive list of links to sources of information you won’t find in mainstream go here. You will find there links to the Graf Boys’ sites and Youtube channel. For previous info on this topic use the search box or categories.
If you check this map* of DoC’s recent pest treatment of the Coromandel that included 1080 drops, the Otahu block which was part of that, is right below Whangamatā. Whangamatā has this past week been stricken with 1000s of dying bees … washed ashore at Whangamatā’s popular beach, currently also inundated with holiday makers. *(Note: you will need to scroll to the bottom of the page at the link & click on ‘I agree’ to access the map).
NZ Herald reports 75 bee stings over the week from the dying insects. The problem began according to Radio NZ on Monday of last week (Christmas Day). Mainstream media has chosen to report it four days later on December 29th, the Friday before New Year when it will likely fly under the radar as folk head off for the long weekend. A time worn tactic with mainstream. NZ Herald reported it on the 30th (Saturday) but only as one paragraph within an article about the large beach crowd, not considered important enough to have a headline of its own. Die offs are becoming almost ho hum these days it seems. Pipi, toheroa, eels,blue bottles more recently and if you google bees this isn’t the first. I saw one item from 2014. There were more. By and large the phenomenon it appears is being downplayed.
It is unclear from DoC’s website maps and info whether 1080 was actually dropped on that block, but it is clear that it was treated with something. Whangamatā is situated on an estuary, also the subject of controversy with conservation concerns regarding a marina built there. As the map indicates waterways (particularly note the Otahu River) flow out of the poisoned zone to the sea. We are not told exactly where the bees were found, or on which beach. There are actually two there and both are safe for swimming.
Amendment 1 Jan 2018: All three pest treatments were aerial 1080 drops.
What I found interesting researching this, was the lack of ease of locating on Doc’s site the relevant information about the poisoned areas. I note that the map indicates 1080 was applied to the Papakai block in the Coromandel, still the other two areas (marked in red) do not indicate the poison used at all. It was only when I went to the Battle for our Birds page that I could find dates (Oct/Nov 2017) yet there was still no clear indication of what was dropped. The Hunting page gave a little more information as in where to go to find out the drop areas but one would have thought the Walking and Tramping page would contain this important information given tourists like to walk the scenic routes. There is nothing there, the site in my opinion is not tourist friendly at all.
So there has been a die off of thousands of bees. This is so tragic, given also we have only just had recent concerns raised by bee keepers about the effects of 1080 on the bee population, particularly in the Coromandel, with bees returning it to the hives.
Will we find out if it was 1080 (or any other poison)? I very much doubt it given the disinclination the authorities charged with protecting our wildlife have to reporting anything bad about this ‘wonderful’ insecticide that kills all oxygen breathing animals and organisms … banned by most countries and manufactured by your government here in Kiwiland. Neither is it likely we’ll be told if it is any of the other poisons our authorities spread liberally around our environment. Our Kiwi government has a love affair with poisons and seems to be comfortably in bed with the poison industry possibly explaining the ongoing opposition we are seeing to anybody who questions the wisdom of it. Sue Kedgely summed it up quite nicely in 2012:
I am wondering how long it will be before we stop using pesticides that are poisonous to bees. I am not optimistic that it will be quickly, given our record. We were, after all, one of the last countries in the world to ban 245T. And the response of successive governments to calls to stop using lethal pesticides has been to dither and procrastinate in the face of mounting evidence, and accept industry blandishments that they are safe…. Sue Kedgely, Green Party
Let’s hope this is investigated by Whangamatā’s regional authorities. We will only be guessing unless the insects are tested and more information is given. Why do thousands of bees suddenly die off like that? We’ve been hearing for years that once the bees go (die) we humans have only a few years left. Ah but you can rest safe because the clever people running the show are busy cobbling together their new GM varieties which of course are going to save the planet.
Here are the articles from mainstream about the bee die off:
Whangamatā inundated with dying bees
One of the country’s busiest beaches has been inundated with dying bees, creating a hazard for holidaymakers.
Surf Lifesavers at Whangamatā have gone as far as issuing a warning to beachgoers to watch out for the insects.
Deputy Head Guard Max Jones said they had dealt with dozens of first aid requests for bee stings as thousands of the insects began washing up on the beach this week.
He first noticed them washing in with the tide on Monday and said it got worse as the week progressed.
He said that by Wednesday there were thousands of bees all along the high tide mark and they had to help about 20 children who had been stung.
Mr Jones said he had never seen anything like it, and while they were trying to alert people to the problem it was difficult with so many people on the beach.
He said the bees were mainly at the high-tide line, and while the numbers appeared to have decreased people still needed to be vigilant.
Note: most of the links refer to our own articles, however if you consider this lop sided, I should point out that those articles contain external links. This is about saving time. You can proceed to those links yourself.
For further information on the poisons used in our environment including 1080 and glyphosate, see our main menu. Search categories or use the search box for other articles on topic. EnvirowatchRangitikei
From the No to 1080 use in NZ Facebook page. Read the details of NZ’s Molesworth Station drop in mainstream media below. If we the public treated our animals in this way, we would be convicted of cruelty to animals. Not DoC. They kill non target animals with impunity. Three hundred and forty five deer is a lot of animals. This is happening also to sheep, cattle, horses, our native birds and pet animals, while DoC tells us it targets pests. Dying from 1080 poisoning has been likened by a Vet to two days of being electrocuted.
The poster below has been circulated by Professor Marc Bekoff of Colorado University with the following comment:
“This is utterly inhumane and simply wrong — every welfare and conservation organization should openly oppose this slaughter” … Marc Bekoff, Prof of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, U.S.A.
Hunters have paid for scientists to fly over the site of a 1080 drop, thought to be behind hundreds of dead deer, to count carcasses.
The toxic bait was dropped over a third of Molesworth Station, the country’s largest farm, by helicopter in October as part of a national possum control operation.
The Marlborough branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association then hired two helicopters to methodically sweep the area, having planned the survey in advance.
Hundreds of carcasses reported after Molesworth drop to fight tuberculosis.
A 1080 poison operation targeting possum on New Zealand’s largest farm has angered hunters who fear it’s needlessly killed hundreds of red deer.
Deer hunters have self-funded an aerial survey in the last few weeks to count just how many of the local red deer population have been killed after a 1080 drop in late-October by TBFree NZ to control possums on the historic 180,000-hectare Molesworth Station.
While the Marlborough branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) says the data is still being collated, with a final report still a month away, online hunting forums suggest as many as 345 red deer have been spotted lying dead on the land.
“There were certainly dead deer seen,” said Wayne Smith, NZDA Marlborough branch committee member, “and, from observations, not as many live deer running around the hills as we would’ve expected.”
PAUL THOMAS, FORMER DoC FIELD CENTRE MANAGER, REEFTON, IS APPALLED BY PRESENT-DAY DoC STAFF BEHAVIOUR
These two photos are of DoC-employed security ‘guards’ (thugs?) at the aerial 1080 operation near Whitianga, Coromandel Peninsula, October 2017.
On the first photo, Paul Thomas comments :
“As a former manager of DoC I’m just appalled at the behaviour of staff. I find this behaviour abhorrent! It has NO fit in conservation!! Nor has 1080!! Conservation is about connecting people to manage what is precious to all of us! There is NO connection here, only failure!!”:
Of the second photo (header image) he says “The disconcerting and ugly face of DoC – a disgrace !!”
I have posted these comments up again with his permission. Intrigued, I asked Paul for his background. He says :
“I was Field Centre Manager in Reefton 1990 to 1998. Managing predominantly Victoria Conservation Park (NZ Largest) and part Lewis Pass National reserve! Before that I was a conservation officer based on Kawau Island – Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park. Before that a conservation officer at Waipoua Forest Sanctuary! My career started as a reserved ranger at Trounson Kauri Park 1987, just before DoC came along! Post 1998 I did some project management work for DoC in historic resource management ! Which I continue now in community based built heritage projects, I do the projects as a volunteer. I do though have a continued interest in the natural environment. I’m a Lincoln Parks and Recreation Management graduate.”
What reason could there be to deny a family to see their own medical records? Not rocket science is it? We are frequently seeing now this denial with regard to OIA requests. What are they hiding? See the other articles on this topic (use the search box or categories).
One of the Waikato family struck down with a serious mystery illness is battling with the district health board to see his own medical records.
Shibu Kochummen – along with Subi Babu and Alekutty Daniel – have been released from hospital, but doctors are in the dark as to what caused their month long unconscious episode.
Doctors are back in the dark about what caused their weeks-long paralysis, after testing ruled out botulism and boar meat as the cause, which was earlier suspected.
Family spokesman Joji Varghese said they are still suffering from full body aches and chronic fatigue, but are recovering at home with family from India.
Varghese said the health board hasn’t made it easy for Mr Kochummen to see his own files.
“Once we started to see this hesitation to give this out, it was so many hoops to jump through, we started wondering what is happening. Are people really hiding something, what’s happening here.”
“Originally it [1080] was developed as an insecticide by Monsanto. But its lack of selectivity of what it kills meant it was too dangerous.”
“Declaring war on behalf of nature is not possible. Nature works in unpredictable ways and will adjust to intrusions indifferent to attempts to either save or destroy it. As DOC’s 1080 War for the Birds enters its seventh decade, the rodent emerges as its clear benefactor. This confirmed by each new seed mast.
Emotive claims of the annual loss of 25 million birds and the tens of millions of tonnes of devastated vegetation defy the laws of ecosystem equilibrium. The more likely villain may be its own tool of choice, 1080. Originally it was developed as an insecticide by Monsanto. But its lack of selectivity of what it kills meant it was too dangerous. It deprives the forest of its avian food source. Starving its victims, resulting in the often noted silent forest. It also prevents the essential breakdown in forest litter, a critical factor for a healthy forest ecology. Despite the millions of squandered dollars these phenomena have never been studied by its toxic proponents. Nor has there been a reasonable explanation of why the forest seed mast has now assumed “biblical” proportions.
Indications are these seed blooms are the result of the disruption created by the insect and flora/fauna relationship. With no insects to impede growth, the seeds bloom with increased frequency and intensity. Another example of human intervention in natural systems that has gone tragically wrong.
David L Langer
Gore”
The Southland Times, Letters to the Editor, August 24, 2016
Header Photo – Jim Hilton
Dead birds found over a few acres, after 270,000 hectare aerial 1080 poison drop, Kahurangi National Park, 2014.
This was the first year of DoC’s “Battle for our Birds” drops.
Since the making of this video, it has developed that the security firm involved were not a registered organization until 12th of December 2017 and the security guard that assaulted Graeme was not registered to be doing security work at the time of the incident……. LINKS TO WITNESS STATEMENTS AND FURTHER INFORMATION https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?…https://www.facebook.com/carol.sawyer…
Find more 1080 articles at ‘categories’ or the search box. Also check out the 1080 resources page. EnvirowatchRangitikei
For weeks, since this Putaruru family was first hospitalized after a meal of wild boar meat, mainstream media has told us the family had botulism.
“All three members of a Waikato family struck down with botulism after eating freshly slaughtered wild boar meat have regained consciousness”. Stuff.co.nz
A number of folk requested information on the issue under the OIA but were declined citing patient confidentiality.
TV Wild put in a request four weeks ago and this was also declined, even with patient consent.
Understandably given the widespread use of 1080 throughout NZ people wanted reassurance it wasn’t 1080 poisoning of beast or human via secondary poisoning even. We had a Neuroscientist also speaking out about the symptoms and how they did not match botulism.
Then, two nights ago the Graf Boys (maker of the documentary on 1080 called Poisoning Paradise) having obtained consent from the family, published an interview with friends of the family. The revelations were startling especially regarding the after effects of the poison. (We also published that video this morning, you can see it here.)
“Joji Varghese describes how up to four nurses were required to restrain the victims, because their involuntary convulsions were likely to harm the patients and the nurses. They had to be strapped to their beds.”
Now, the very next morning we have an article in the Herald telling us that the family’s test results have now been returned (coincidentally?) and the verdict is that no it was not botulism. Even more coincidentally, we learn they had also been tested for 1080 and the results were negative. So just two days ago, the family were also refused the results to all testing for another 20 days, yet the following day (after the release of the family interview) mainstream media has the test results?
“The family was also tested for 1080 poisoning and that was negative too”. Radio NZ
This is another flip flop as you will note in the this article they hadn’t tested for 1080 because the family would have to eat a bowlful to be poisoned to the extent they were it was claimed.
“He revealed the family had also been tested for mercury, arsenic and lead poisoning but not 1080 as doctors believed they would have needed to consume a cereal bowl full for it to have such a violent effect.” NZ Herald
And now we are being told that even the boar meat was not the cause:
It appears that the authorities have destroyed all of the meat that was in the family’s freezer (now why would you do that?). And the meal left on the table is still in pristine non decayed condition, unlike the rest of the food left there.
So, it is all looking murkier by the hour. Do you still trust the authorities? The media? Your government? (which is a corporation mind). The hospital management? And we have other growing anomalies in the 1080 mix.
You must be logged in to post a comment.