Tag Archives: possums

Gardening, News

DEALING WITH SUMMER PESTS IN THE GARDEN (Wally Richards)

Gardening should be a pleasant pastime and not just another chore that has to be done. If you find it a chore then maybe there are too many things you are doing and the pleasure of working with plants and the soil is lost.

There are things that we gardeners must do to keep everything growing healthy and looking good. I am always are looking for ways to do tasks quickly and simply so more time can be spent doing the gardening things that give satisfaction and gratification. Enjoyment comes from preparing an area and planting it with seeds or seedlings then watching them develop and grow for harvesting to eat or flower to enhance your home.

Summer time temperatures allow pest insects to multiply quickly and infest your plants. If their populations become too great then it is a real chore to try and get them under control. In fact it is better to start control methods as early as possible making life easier in the long term. By spreading Wallys Neem Tree Granules over the soil under trees, shrubs and established plants will greatly help reduce and prevent insect populations building up. There are soil pests that we don’t see which are feeding on the roots of plants, sapping the plant’s energy causing loss of vigor. Mealy bugs, root nematodes, grass grubs and slaters can be controlled and eliminated by scattering the Neem Granules in the plant’s root zone. Gardeners and Landscapers often comment to me that a few weeks after applying the Neem Granules the plants are looking much better. Simple reason is the pests feeding on the roots have gone and the plants are happy. Wallys Neem Granules can be used around your roses, vegetable plants and flowering annuals.

Wallys Neem Tree Powder which is the same as the granules just a smaller, even particle size are ideal to use in the planting hole of seedlings, along with sowing of seeds and in particular with carrot seeds to prevent carrot fly damage. With carrots you side dress to row when the carrot tops are a few centimeters tall as well as when sowing the seeds. Container plants are often a home for mealy bugs which feed on the roots and later come upstairs as adults to feed on the foliage.  The ones on the foliage are easy to control with Wally Super Pyrethrum but you need to place Neem Powder on top of the growing medium. As the powder breaks down it will develop grey mould which is the natural breakdown happening. It is unsightly so after applying the powder cover with a little growing medium. Out of sight, out of mind. If you want a top quality lawn then it is a good idea to sprinkle Wallys Neem Tree Powder over the lawn at a rate of 50 grams per Square Metre.  If your lawn is infected by grass grubs each year then in Autumn when the autumn rains have moistened the soil you spread the Neem powder over the lawn after it has been recently cut. Then lightly water the area to wash the powder down off the grass onto the soil. If you have a roller then its a good idea to roll the lawn to press the powder into the soil.

When you find there are pest insects on any of your plants outdoors you can make up a spray using Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Wallys Super Pyrethrum added. Just on dusk when the bees have stopped working for the day you spray the plants under and over the foliage.  The pyrethrum is a quick knock down and it will kill the flying insects such as white fly and leaf hoppers. The Neem Oil will, as an anti-feedent on the foliage, stop the pests feeding on the plants after which they will starve to death in a few days. Often gardeners find that the sprays work, but it is only a short time before the insect pests are back. The reason being is they are on other plants in the area and re-infesting back onto your treated plants. You need to spray the other plants they are coming from. If those plants happen to be over the fence then that is a problem that can only be solved with winter or you getting the ok from the neighbor (who likely is not a gardener) to spray their plants as well.

Gardeners that live in the country and have possums, rabbits and hares to contend with can do the following: plants that are been eaten spray with Wallys Neem Tree Oil just before dark. Wallys Neem Tree oil being the real thing and not some vegetable oil with the Neem properties added, has a horrible taste which with its smell will deter possums and rabbits. Once you find that the varmints have stopped eating your plants then instead of having to respray to keep control and keep them away, simply scatter Wally Neem Tree Granules around and the smell of them should keep your plants safe. A point when using the spray mix of Wallys Neem Oil and Pyrethrum and you have unused spray then you can pour the left over liquid into a container and store in a dark cupboard. Rinse the sprayer out thoroughly jetting some clean water through the nozzle to be sure all the spray has gone. Next time you use you can take the stored spray and if need be add more of the products and water.

To look after the soil and the beneficial microbes plus fungi that live in the soil which help our plants feed and grow, mix Wallys Super Fish Fertiliser with Wallys Mycorrcin in a watering can and water the area around or over your preferred plants such as vegetables, fruit and roses. This will help to greatly increase the soil life (as long as you are not watering with chlorinated tap water). Here is an interesting possibility: as the combination of the fish fertiliser and Mycorrcin has a distinct smell you could try spraying the mix over fruit trees when the birds are attacking the fruit. A product that used to be available years ago from Canada called Alaska Fish Fertiliser which had quite a smell to it did deter birds from ripening fruit. If you find it successful let me know.

TWENTY FIVE PERCENT OFF SALE

Till the end of January we are discounting the following products by 25% to help you gain control of Insect pests and improve your soil quality.

Orders must be placed on www.0800466464.co.nz using the Code 25% in the remarks place.

I will phone you after receiving the order and deduct the 25% off the items below and also give you 10% off most other items except for bulk items.

FREIGHT: shipping charged on orders under $100 (After discounts) North Island In other words order of $100 plus after discount and not bulk items free shipping.

South Island $150.00 plus after discounts for free shipping.

Exception is for Rural delivery a charge of $3.15 on each parcel sent no matter if rest is free shipping or not.

Here are the 25% discount items:

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 1kg normal price $15.00 save $3.75 making it $11.25

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 3kg normal price $28.00 save $7.00 making it $21.00

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 10kg normal price $80.00 save $20.00 making it $60.00

Wallys Neem Tree Granules 20kg normal price $160.00 save $40.00 making it $120.00

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 1kg normal price $15.00 save $3.75 making it $11.25

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 3kg normal price $28.00 save $7.00 making it $21.00

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 10kg normal price $80.00 save $20.00 making it $60.00

Wallys Neem Tree Powder 20kg normal price $160.00 save $40.00 making it $120.00


Wallys Super Neem Tree oil 125 ml normal price $18.00 save $4.50 making it $13.50

Wallys Super Neem Tree oil 250 ml normal price $24.00 save $6.00 making it $18.00

Wallys Super Neem Tree oil 1 litre normal price $60.00 save $15.00 making it $45.00


Wallys Super Pyrethrum 100 ml normal price $28.00 save $4.20 making it $23.80


Wallys Super Fish Fertiliser 1Litre normal price $16.00 save $4.00 making it $12.00

Wallys Mycorrcin 250ml normal price $20.00 save $5.00 making it $15.00

Wallys Mycorrcin 500ml normal price $35.00 save $8.75 making it $26.25

Wallys Mycorrcin 1 Litre normal price $55.00 save $13.75 making it $41.25

Orders must be placed on www.0800466464.co.nz using the Code 25% in the remarks place.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at  www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

 Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

For other gardening posts see ‘gardening’ in categories (left side of page)

Check out our sister site truthwatchnz.is for other news

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1080, News, Poison

Tararua Range 1080 Drops by OSPRI Based on Fallacy

Press Release by the Sporting Hunters Outdoor Trust

A West Coast conservationist and spokesman for the Sporting Hunters Outdoor Trust has challenged the justification for a 1080 aerial drop in the Tararua Ranges by OSPRI (former Animal Health Board) saying it is founded on a false belief that possums are responsible for spreading bovine TB.

Laurie Collins of the West Coast said current 1080 aerial drops on public lands in the Tararua Ranges were based on twin fallacies of possums spreading TB and the country had a TB problem. “Neither is true,” he said. “It’s irresponsible of OSPRI to be wasting public funds and damaging the ecology of the Tararua’s public lands with 1080 plus telling fibs.” Laurie Collins said the belief that possum spread bovine TB had been disproven a few years ago when in Parliament the Minister of Primary Industries disclosed that of 9830 possums autopsied, none had TB. Yet in 2020 we have OSPRI  carrying out mass aerial 1080 poisoning in several areas including public lands such as the Tararua Ranges,” he said. Laurie Collins said New Zealand was virtually TB free and was probably one of the most TB-free countries in the world. The world standard for a country to declare “TB free” is 0.2% for TB infected herds and 0.1% for infected cattle. New Zealand rates of TB infection in cattle were slight, i.e. 0.0019% average generally over the last decade.  “It is so far below that required by world standards for a TB free declaration – that New Zealand must be one of the world’s most TB free countries”, he said. “Of deep concern to New Zealanders who are outdoors people, whether tramping, hunting, trout fishing or seeking any recreation in mountain areas, is the indiscriminate spreading of a poison that kills anything which ingests it.” The poison 1080 knows no “species boundaries -whether an insect, bird or animal, it kills, he said. Laurie Collins now retired has long and extensive experience of 1080 having been involved as a Forest Service trainee in the trials of the toxin’s first use in the late 1950s in the Caples Valley, Lake Wakatipu and in subsequent pest management work. In the past there had been cases of farmers wrongly transporting stock from infected areas with resultant TB outbreaks on farms. OSPRI had ignored the stock transportation factor and proceeded to wrongly blame possums and then aerially spread 1080 over adjoining public lands. Laurie Collins cited such an instance in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. NZ’s extremely low TB infection rates  raised the question whether OSPRI had a continuing role. “Instead of celebrating New Zealand’s Tb-free status, OSPRI remains in denial and states their aim is total eradication of TB,” he said. “

Is it that OSPRI want to continue its existence and jobs, funded for by taxpayers and farmer levies?” Even from the first discovery of TB in possums near Westport in the late 1960s, no-one ever seems to have questioned whether the possum infected cattle, or cattle infected the possum. The default position has always been that it is possums that have infected the cattle.  “What probably began as a few civil servants getting some money from the then Ministry of Agriculture slowly morphed over time into a part of a growth program in the ministries bureaucracy,” he added.

1080, Farming

Time to Rein in OSPRI over Bovine TB Illogic

by John Veysey of Coromandel
At present there are eighteen bovine TB-infected herds in Hawkes Bay. Ospri has found a TB-infected pig on private land. The infected pig was taken from the 12,000 ha of Tataraakina C trust land.  Ospri tells farmers that this find “confirms that the spread of TB in Hawkes Bay is coming through wild life and not through movement of livestock”. 
BUT Ospri seems to have no logical explanation of how TB gets into a wild pig. They tell farmers that the pig can not transfer the disease to another pig nor to another animal. Ospri’s supposition is that the possum transfers the disease to cattle but for the possum to get the disease from the pig it must eat the meat from a dead pig which has died from the infection.
OSPRI Failure
For decades Ospri and its predecessor, TB-Free NZ, have failed to establish how possums gain infection from cattle or how the disease is transferred back again from the possum to the cow.  Ospri’s idea of transfer from a pig depends on a “carnivorous” possum. Eh?

READ MORE

LINK: https://coranz.org.nz/time-to-rein-in-ospri-over-bovine-tb-illogic/?fbclid=IwAR1dHOSMeVRg1U8g62cyiYrmyKUlmYd3yF4rQrfyS7fQE64LxmVDOonGQwQ

Image by Shutterbug75 from Pixabay

1080, News, Poison

Poisoning as a method of pest control in mega-mast years simply creates an imbalance in the ecosystem giving an advantage to the meso-predator – from a Regional Councilor

7 Comments

By Kathy White

This is what I have to say about the mega-mast year, and the need to drop more 1080, as profiled in the media recently…

“The Department of Conservation (DOC) is planning its largest predator control programme in response to a ‘mega mast’ event – exceptionally heavy seeding – in New Zealand forests. The $38 million programme will cover about 1 million hectares of conservation land across the country…”  (Stuff)

All the following quotes have come from DoC or Landcare Research scientists. If there’s a problem with rats, DoC, OSPRI, regional councils and pest control contractors have no one to blame but themselves for using a pest control method that creates imbalance in the ecosystem and which gives an advantage to the meso-predator that breeds fastest.

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1080, News, Ospri, Poison

“No funds” for pre 1080 drop possum monitoring at Timaru Creek yet OSPRI can still claim they’ve killed 97% of the population

5 Comments

DEER ARE NOT POSSUMS! 95% OF THE DEER WERE KILLED BY 1080 POISON AT TIMARU CREEK, LAKE HAWEA

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Yesterday, in a Stuff article by Will Harvie, (link at end) we were told:

“At Timaru Creek near Lake Hawea, deer mortality” (from 1080) “was 90-95 per cent.”

On 20 June, 2018, the Timaru Creek area beside Lake Hawea, Central Otago, was aerially poisoned with approximately 10 tonnes of 1080 poison baits, over a 6,825 ha area.

Approximately 40% of the area was to receive poison baits coated in deer repellent, we were told by OSPRI/TBfree at the time. Presumably this happened as Will Harvie goes on to say the deer kill was “50-62 per cent when deer repellent was added to the 1080 bait”

There was NO justification for this 1080 poison drop. It was ostensibly to kill POSSUMS. No pre-drop possum monitoring was done.

OSPRI’s poison “justification” was 5 pigs killed in 2016 near Stodys Hut (the edge of the drop zone) having Tb, and a ferret killed in 2016, 5 kms from the drop zone, and found to have Tb. ( OSPRI said, in its published justifications for the drop, that the ferret was in the drop zone, and then later admitted in response to an OIA request that it was 5 kms from the drop zone.)

NO possums were found to have Tb. Mind you there is absolutely zero empirical scientific evidence to show that possums give bovine Tb to cattle, anyway!!

There are no Tb-infected herds for hundreds of kilometres in any direction.. OSPRI said at the time they don’t have funds to monitor possum numbers before a drop, only money to monitor them afterwards! They said they “assumed” there were enough possums in the drop zone to warrant an aerial 1080 drop !!!!

However despite this, at a recent Upper Clutha Deerstalkers’ Assn meeting, 21 March, 2019, OSPRI Operations Extension officer, Jennifer Lawn stated 97% of the possums in the area had been killed by the 1080 drop. Remember there was NO pre-drop monitoring done ! How, then, can she know this ?

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Is 90%+ deer-kill the “new normal” for 1080 drops ?

On 27 March, 2019, officials confirmed 92% of deer were killed at Molesworth Station in a 2017 1080-drop to kill possums.

Now we have officials confirming 90 to 95% deer killed at Timaru Creek in a 2018 1080-drop to kill possums.

Do you think they have forgotten deer are not possums ?

https://www.stuff.co.nz/…/toxin-1080-killed-90-per-cent-of-…

Photos :

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The map of the drop zone, outlined in red. The yellow area was supposed to have had deer-repellent added to the 1080 baits – so it would only kill 60% of the deer ! – Map from OSPRI

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The drop zone at Timaru Creek itself, and looking across at the area from the shores of Lake Hawea – Photos Carol Sawyer

1080, News, Ospri, Poison

OSPRI finally admits it killed 92% of Molesworth Stn’s deer in 2017 with 1080 poison intended for possums (an estimated 4,000 deer)

16 Comments

Molesworth Station in the South Island, is a publicly owned park managed by NZ’s Department of Conservation…

“…up to 4,000 deer were killed in that one 1080 operation!! …

IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT THIS AERIAL POISON OPERATION WAS TO KILL POSSUMS – NOT DEER !

It should also be remembered that pigs, goats, and birds were killed in unknown numbers at Molesworth as well. Insects feeding on poisoned carcasses are killed. Birds are killed when they feed on carcasses ( hawks, falcons ), on poisoned insects, (owls and the smaller insectivores) or on the baits themselves.”

 

By Carol Sawyer

Eight helicopters dropped toxic 1080 bait at 2kg/ha on a 61,200ha area in late October, 2017. This iconic high-country station is owned by the people of New Zealand and is a recreation reserve managed by the Department of Conservation.

Molesworth Station is a massive 180,787 ha and a further two aerial 1080 drops (ca. 60,000 ha each) were planned. These were deferred “after the initial possum control operation [in] 2017 killed more deer than expected” an Ospri spokesman told the NZ Herald, 17 August, 2018

A hunters’ survey at the time, of approx. 10% of the 61,200 ha poisoned area, reported 345 dead deer – whole family groups. As it was Spring (late October) there will have been fawns left to starve.

http://kapitiindependentnews.net.nz/whats-up-doc-3-deer-k…/…

The Marlborough branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association then commissioned a survey of the whole area aerially 1080 poisoned, “to assess the amount of collateral damage done by 1080 poison” and to “inform the public debate”. They hired helicopters “to methodically sweep 60,000 hectares of the country’s largest high-country farm, Molesworth Station, counting the number of by-kill deer after the toxic poison drop.”

The survey and its results have never appeared.

On Feb 14, 2019, it was announced that the results of the survey, together with a report by Lincoln University PHD student Kaylyn Pinney would be released to the public “within a month”.

Here we are, March 22, 2019, and the report has still not been made public. It is now nearly 18 months since the aerial 1080 poison drop.

HOWEVER – last night, March 21, 2019, there was a meeting of the Upper Clutha branch of the NZ Deerstalkers’ Assn held in Wanaka. Approximately 25 people attended. A representative from OSPRI, Jennifer Lawn, was in attendance to talk about their TBfree programme, and in particular the results of their aerial 1080 poisoning of the Timaru Creek area, Lake Hawea, 20 June, 2018.

Lawn (OSPRI Operations Extension), when giving figures on how many deer are killed by 1080 poison, volunteered the information that 92% of the total deer population on Molesworth Station were killed by the October, 2017 poison drop. (Joel Lund was in attendance and he wrote this appalling figure down.) (1)

If 345 deer were killed in 10% of the station originally surveyed, and the kill rate is 92%, that means that presumably up to 4,000 deer were killed in that one 1080 operation!! No wonder OSPRI “deferred” the remaining two thirds of Molesworth Station.

IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED THAT THIS POISON OPERATION WAS TO KILL POSSUMS – NOT DEER !

It should also be remembered that pigs, goats, and birds were killed in unknown numbers at Molesworth as well. Insects feeding on poisoned carcasses are killed. Birds are killed when they feed on carcasses ( hawks, falcons ), on poisoned insects, (owls and the smaller insectivores) or on the baits themselves.

(1) James Knapp, who was Health and Safety Manager for OSPRI at the time of this 1080 drop confirmed today that he considered the 92% figure to be correct.

(2) “An admission by the old AHB after a local poison op in 2002 admitted that 85% of the deer in the drop zone would have been poisoned. That admission came only after we persisted in hassling them after we found 18 dead deer.” – Lew Hore, Oamaru

(3) This deer and fawn are not from Molesworth, as NO information has been allowed into the public domain from the Molesworth 1080 drop. The photo is to help illustrate what happened, that’s all.

Header Photo: Screen shot from Taupo 1080 Drop, CGNZ

Poster below – by James Smith

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RELATED:

A farmer who lost 570 ewes following an accidental 1080 drop on his farm said that 6 months later sheep were still dying

1080 drop at Molesworth Stn NZ kills 345 NZ deer … dubbed “utterly inhumane” by a US University Professor

A NZ Landcare scientist estimates the likely death toll from an Otago 1080 drop in 2002 to be around 10,000 birds

WHO IS REALLY DRIVING PEST FREE NZ (PFNZ) – WHAT YOU AREN’T BEING TOLD

THE STOCK DEATHS FROM 1080 POISON & HOW DOC IS HIDING THEM IN THE PAPER WORK – STILL TRUST THEM?

 

If you are new to NZ’s 1080 poisoning program here is a good article to start with …

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO CONCERNED ABOUT 1080?

A must watch also is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information to make your own informed decision on this matter.

If you are pro poisoning of the environment, EnvirowatchRangitikei is not the place to espouse your opinions. Mainstream would be the place to air those. This is a venue for sharing the independent science you won’t of course find there.

 

1080, Birds, Native Birds in decline, News, Poison

Cruel poisons will never bring back the birdsong

4 Comments

Mainstream has posted an opinion piece by Fiona McQueen on our diminishing birds.

OPINION: Dave Hansford has launched yet another attack against those opposed to pest control in the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary, near Nelson. This sanctuary has just reopened, surrounded by a 14km pest-proof fence. It will be stocked with kiwi, kākāriki and kākā.

The nasty part is that brodifacoum, a poison graded 8/10 for its ability to cause animal suffering, needed to be introduced first to kill pests inside the fence. It also killed native birds including weka and pukeko.

Do the ends justify the means? A human equivalent would be if a ruling party decided to clear out a country, exterminating all unwanted people and restocking with different people who are representatives of a “chosen race”. Wait a minute, hasn’t that been done before?

Andrea Midgen, chief executive of the SPCA, recently spoke out about the associated animal cruelty saying, “1080 (and other poisons) causes intense, prolonged suffering to animals and therefore we cannot support its use”.

READ MORE

https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/109905094/cruel-poisons-will-never-bring-back-the-birdsong?fbclid=IwAR3yH5TEU4e8nFP4bqDYU-feu_R-hLPL8QrGFVY1Gaoro3l22tFCbfC6gJ8

1080, DOC, News

The research of a US biophysicist indicates aerial poisoning has “twice as many costs to native species as benefits” & is “twice as costly to native species as unmanaged possum populations”

1 Comment

Nearly 70% of DoC’s studies justifying aerial 1080 operations were conducted by employees of either AHB [Animal Health Board] or DOC [Dept of Conservation] with only three being published internationally (Robinson, pp 34, 35). 

Reihana Robinson in her book titled ‘The Killing Nation, NZ’s State-Sponsored Addiction to Poison 1080’ cites the research of US biophysicist Dr Alexis Mari Pietak of Tufts University, Massachusetts.  

Dr Pietak ‘conducted a comprehensive literature search for “peer-reviewed scientific investigations into the effects of aerial poison operations on non target fauna” and compared “the costs and benefits to native species poison operations versus unchecked possum populations at their peak density”.’

Quoting from Robinson’s book (emphases mine):

“Her research indicated aerial poisoning has “twice as many costs to native species as benefits, and that aerial poison operations were twice as costly to native species as unmanaged possum populations at their peak density.” this potential for widespread poisoning of insectivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous endemic and endangered or threatened bird species she believes is “a serious issue worthy of international and immediate action,” Namely, to immediately halt aerial poison operations.

   Dr Pietak notes the few bird species that have actually been the subject of “proper radio-transmitter, colour banding, and mark-recapture analysis before and after poison operations’ are the nectar, fruit and foliage eating birds such as hihi, kereru, kōkako and kaka and are indeed most likely to benefit from possum removal. Missing from thorough research are those birds identified as being high risk of primary or secondary poisoning. They number 24 indigenous bird species. She references work by Armstrong 2001 that “notes that data derived from bird or call counts cannot be analysed to separate changes in abundance from changes in detection, due to the fact that bird behaviour is affected by the presence of a human observer. Detection rates can vary depending on the weather, human observer, and unknown bird behavioural patterns.” She states the “science seems to have been selectively interpreted, ignored, and moreover left grossly incomplete in its scope, presumably in the name of non-environmental economical interests” “

Like a growing number of researchers Dr Pietak notes the potential for bias given the large number of studies funded by AHB [Animal Health Board] or DOC [Dept of Conservation]. Of the 28 studies retrieved she finds 19 of 28, (nearly 70%), were conducted by employees of either AHB or DOC with only three being published internationally”. (Robinson, pp 34, 35)*. 

* Pietak, Alexis Mari A Critical Look at Aerial-Dropped, Poison-Laced Food in New Zealand’s forest Ecosystems 2010 Creative Commons

 

NOTE: For further articles on 1080 use categories at left of the news page.

If you are new to the 1080 poisoning program, a must watch is Poisoning Paradise, the doco made by the GrafBoys (banned from screening on NZ TV, yet a 4x international award winner). Their website is tv-wild.com. Their doco is a very comprehensive overview with the independent science to illustrate the question marks that remain over the use of this poison. There are links also on our 1080 resources page to most of the groups, pages, sites etc that will provide you with further information to make your own informed decision on this matter.

1080, News, Poison, Water

Post 1080-drop water monitoring: a former Greens MP says there is gross misrepresentation around the official figures presented by DoC

4 Comments

Former Greens MP Steffan Browning, interviewed recently by Raglan Community Radio, discusses his preference for exploring alternative methods in culling pests. He also believes the information supplied to Eugenie Sage regarding the frequency of finding 1080 in water samples is at odds with independent testing. Official figures say 1080 is detected only 3% of the time however, from the calculations of an independent scientist that incidence is closer to 60%. The 3% figure supplied to OSPRI, Forest & Bird and so on, is in Browning’s opinion inaccurate & a gross misrepresentation. To go straight to the water sampling discussion go to 12 minutes.

And by the way, in addition to saying there are other Green MPs who are pro alternatives to 1080, he mentions former Green Party Co-Leader Rod Donald’s preference for the trapping alternative, illustrated by the Possum covering he had for his Parliamentary seat. What a shame their current Party stance is not so green on this topic.

https://archive.org/details/SteffanBrowning1080181003?fbclid=IwAR2CAV2-1WmoaqxydUpkde2DnF2_yMABMt4rnYBANpfm8Hgt46GhQNaplBI#reviews

 

Below is an excerpt from 1080’s product information warning about dropping baits in water, however the government has changed the rules so that they can drop it into waterways without a resource consent. The point of this news item is the way tests are carried out to determine poison levels, however, it is also pertinent to remember the manufacturer’s warning regarding water sources & 1080 risks:

Copy of Untitled

 

 

1080, Birds, DOC, News, Poison

A NZ Landcare scientist estimates the likely death toll from an Otago 1080 drop in 2002 to be around 10,000 birds

6 Comments

More evidence on the apparent wanton decimation of NZ’s bird population by the deadly class 1A ecotoxin 1080, banned in most countries, with no antidote, dispensed by helicopters into the bush like a ‘veritable lollie scramble’ as I recently read it described by a person who for a long time worked with both 1080 poison & with DoC. 

The late Bill Benfield* in his book, The Third Wave, Poisoning the Land, describes dead birds that were picked up by searchers in 2002 at the Waianakarua Scenic Reserve in North Otago (a 4043 hectare block). (p 71)

Each bird had been grid referenced on a map and at a pest management strategy meeting in Christchurch (May 2009) a Landcare scientist was able to estimate the likely death toll… an astonishing 10,000 birds. Benfield describes the potential possum population in the reserve as being around 7-8,000 in which case he concludes, the pest management people (DoC & AHB) are poisoning more birds than there are possums.

We know of course that 1080 can’t target just non-native birds. So the photos supplied by people of post-drop death counts invariably include examples of both.

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A native Kotare (Kingfisher) found also after a 1080 drop, supplied by Paws for a Cause

kahurangi nat park jim hilton
Another image of a birds following a 1080 drop in Kahurangi National Park .. note the native Kereru and Kotare (supplied by Jim Hilton)


NOTE: the header image is not of the birds in question, these are from Paws 4 a Cause’s Facebook page, collected after another 1080 drop. There are many photos of dead birds collected by people directly after the drops. Regarding this article, there is an actual image supplied by Bill Benfield in his book (p71) however I do not at this stage have permission to use it. Please don’t bother asking for proof these ones died of 1080 poisoning. It is not rocket science as to why a collection such as these died when they were collected directly after a 1080 drop.  And besides, the Landcare scientist and the folk at the said pest management strategy meeting in Christchurch, all took it as given that the estimated 10,000 birds died of 1080 POISONING, not other causes. No mention of any other possibilities for death with neither any mention of testing the said birds. Now that these items of information are coming to the fore thanks to investigative writers like Benfield, and to the dedication of the many thousands who recently & historically protested, the said authorities are racing hither and yon suddenly getting the birds tested to ‘prove’ that the folk who simply want clean water & food are getting unnecessarily hysterical.

However, remember the 89 dead kiwi that DoC didn’t bother to test for possible 1080 poisoning? I rest my case. Clearly the authorities can no longer rest on their laurels and assume that the trusting NZ public are asleep like they used to be. 

* About the late William (Bill) Benfield:

William Benfield was an environmentalist author who wrote three books. The first two dealt with the widespread use of 1080 poison in New Zealand. The first is titled At War with Nature-Corporate Conservation & the Industry of Extinction, (find on Amazon) the second, cited in the article above, is “The Third Wave: Poisoning the Land”. His third book is called Water: Quality and Ownership.
Read Amazon’s commentary on At War with Nature: Corporate Conservation and the Extinction Industry:

“This is a book about how the destruction of one of the world’s most unique, ancient and unspoiled wilderness areas has led to the growth of an international industry eradicating animals and plants which have been deemed to be “invasive”. That is because they are where pseudo-scientists say they should not be. What New Zealand began as an industrialised extermination has now become island eradications in many parts of the world. To expand and grow, it must either seek more islands, or widen its scope to cover whole nations; that is what it is now doing.
The parasitic riders who drive this conservation gravy train are:-
•Government conservation agencies who seek to increase their bureaucratic power and influence,
•The agri-chemical industry who supply the chemicals and poisons.
•The powerful and wealthy conservation charities who whip up the concept of “threats to nature” as a way generating donations, bequests and corporate sponsorships.
•The academic and science institutions who see in it a rich seam of grant money for supplying junk science in support of the eradication industry.
Eradications are carried out on a scale reminiscent of the US military aerial deforestation of Vietnam with “agent orange”. Here, for all wildlife, the animals, birds and insects, the poisons used are super-toxins such as brodifacoum and 1080. For vegetation, they have devised new wonder chemical cocktails such as “Armageddon”. It is total ecosystem genocide.
To whip up a public fervour to help justify such mass environmental poisoning, the people are fed the concepts of invasive pests and threats. Thus, harmless creatures are demonised and need be shown no mercy. By deliberate and devious propaganda, the public are kept unaware, that in the blinkered rush of zeal to kill “pests” and “predators”, the eradication industry is killing everything else, even the rare and endangered species such as an entire monitored population of rock wrens from an aerial 1080 poisoning at New Zealand’s Kuhurangi National Park.
It is a war against nature.”
A further article featuring Bill Benfield from Stuff:

 

 

 

1080, agenda 21/30, Conservation, DOC, News, UN

Who is really driving Pest Free NZ (PFNZ) – what you aren’t being told

21 Comments

An excellent article here that throws much needed light on the 1080 poison issue. So here it is in plain sight. Agenda 21, kicked off at the Earth Summit in 1992. If the prevention of biodiversity loss caused by alien species was so above board why are they not selling it to the general public in its original terms? And as I keep repeating, if this UN document were truly about their so called sustainable practices we should by now be seeing some results. Instead we see unprecedented pollution, environmental destruction, poverty, inequality, homelessness & debt. And aside from all of that, what is sustainable about poisoning the entire environment? What is sustainable about poison, period? Oh, that’s right, certain corporate profits.

By J James at infonews.co.nz

What is driving the Pest Free NZ Agenda and the hysteria in eradicating non native species.  Answer – International agreements and a global  agenda to purge all non native species of animals and plants around the world.

Its wise to know that when you stand up to protest DOC for the tortuous deaths it is perpetrating on innocent animals,  that you are confronting not just DOC or the current minister or politician but a host of unelected bureaucrats who manage all the various global agreements NZ has signed up to.  These bureaucrats ensure that things run smoothly. The minister and the politicians are an interface between us and them.  John Key called these global organisations the clubs 

There is much more to this story that you can research yourself but the core thing here is that NZ is part of a much bigger extremist idea under the guise of protecting biodiversity – or purism as I call it –  where everything and anything non native and not productive to  human use will be destroyed.

While you browse through these sites you will read a language that appears benign and even needed, yet the practical application and act of killing so many innocent species unlucky to find themselves in another country is horrendous to contemplate and makes me wonder about the sanity of this human race.

Nature abhors a vacuum and will do anything to balance her eco system and can usually do it – its called adaption its called evolution.  When ‘man’ decides to play god then unintended consequences abound and we are all put at risk.  That we now stand at the edge of this psychopathic agenda of death, we must pause for a moment and consider how industry with the approval of governments have deforested the planet to feed its voracious appetite for money for economic growth at all costs .  There has been a huge cost – industry enabled by  governments have destroyed so much of the world’s natural habitat that species extinction has become so obvious.  The shock of this has forced the agenda of biodiversity loss using eradication of non native species as a means to address it.

Here in NZ it is seen most noticeably in the dropping of poison out of helicopters into pristine ecosystems, rendering them silent.
When New Zealand announced its Predator Free NZ vision it wasn’t as if suddenly someone in the Department of Conservation woke up with a great idea – it was a directive NZ had to follow as part of being a member of the United Nations.  They never mention this.

There is a global agenda to rid every nation in the world of any and all non native species – animals and plants – non productive species that is – cows and sheep bulls and horses and domestic pigs will stay because they are part of industry and form the back bone of many economies.  But the rest that are not needed will be eradicated.

This is the global agenda and it’s time we knew where this kill kill mentality actually came from.

New Zealand is a member of the IUCN which stands for International Union for Conservation of  Nature – on the international stage NZ is part of the Oceania group  run by the Department of Conservation. Its government agencies are:

The IUCN was founded in 1948. Taken from their website it says this:

”….located near Geneva, Switzerland. The Union brings together 86 states, 120 government agencies, 825 national and 92 international non-governmental organisations, 34 affiliate organisations and through its Commissions about 11,000 experts and scientists from more than 160 countries around the world…”

IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. The Union has three components: its member organisations, its six scientific commissions, and its professional secretariat.

IUCN is the only environmental organisation to have official observer status at the United Nations General Assembly.

NGOs connected to this in NZ are:

They all aim for ecological integrity (purity, my word).

All over the world the word has gone out that all creatures great and small that are not indigenous to that land will be terminated.  It’s not just New Zealand

IUCN GUIDELINES FOR THE PREVENTION OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS CAUSED BY ALIEN INVASIVE SPECIES 

”….. Biological diversity faces many threats throughout the world. One of the major threats to native biological diversity is now acknowledged by scientists and governments to be biological invasions caused by alien invasive species.  The impacts of alien invasive species are immense, insidious, and usually irreversible. They may be as damaging  to native species and ecosystems on a global scale as the loss and degradation of habitats…”

its goals and objectives are …. sound familiar?

”……to prevent further losses of biological diversity due to the deleterious effects of alien invasive species. The intention is to assist governments and management agencies to give effect to Article 8 (h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which states that: “Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate: …(h) Prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species….”

Then there is the CBD which is Convention on Biodiversity and is a legally binding multilateral treaty from the UN of which NZ is a member.  It has three main goals:

“…The conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

In other words, its objective is to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. It is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development. The Convention was opened for signatures at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. At the 2010 10th Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October in Nagoya, Japan, the Nagoya Protocol was adopted…”

or said another way

Protecting Biodiversity.

“….The current decline in biodiversity is largely the result of human activity and represents a serious threat to human development. Despite mounting efforts over the past 20 years, the loss of the world’s biological diversity, mainly from habitat destruction, over-harvesting, pollution and the inappropriate introduction of foreign plants and animals, has continued. Biological resources constitute a capital asset with great potential for yielding sustainable benefits.

Urgent and decisive action is needed to conserve and maintain genes, species and ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable management and use of biological resources…”

Another part of this is the Invasive Species Specialty group 

Their mission statement says:
“….The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) aims to reduce threats to natural ecosystems and the native species they contain by increasing awareness of invasive alien species, and of ways to prevent, control or eradicate them….”

When you hear the DoC and the minister for the Environment talk of eradicating species this is what they are talking about .  This is what they are instructed to do as a member state of the UN.

Here in NZ we are watching the eradication of  wild game – food that many rely on to feed their families –  hunting is as kiwi as rugby – but a wild food industry is being slowly eradicated under the guise of PFNZ .

NZ has no wild mammals as such,  all wild game including trout existing here now is non native and earmarked for eradication, despite them being brought in over 100 years ago.  The various NZ bodies of these organisations do not come out directly and say this of course,  instead they are doing it by stealth, and the best tool in the box for this eradication appears to be the deadly Sodium fluoroacetate commonly referred to as 1080.

SOURCE

https://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?l=1&t=0&id=117063

1080, News, Poison

Hear the birdsong in the Ureweras, they’ve hosted rats, stoats, possums & deer for over 100 years & no 1080 drops (the GrafBoys)

6 Comments

Published on Oct 5, 2014

The Department of Conservation says it needs to use 1080 poison to kill rats and stop rat plagues. Rats have been present in New Zealand forests for over 700 years. This clip looks at various areas where 1080 poison has never been used, and one example of where it has. This is an observation only, but does raise some questions about areas where 1080 is used …
For further info visit tv-wild.com
Also our 1080 pages at the main menu
1080, DOC, News, Poison

Predator free 2050 – creating a generation who ‘find killing animals weirdly addictive’

7 Comments

The new move by Predator Free 2050 to eradicate cats. A new insidiously inhumane killer poison on a par with 1080 in terms of cruelty is already being trialed in the Hawke’s Bay.

Thanks to The Truth About 1080 Poison Facebook page for the link to this article from Bob Kerridge. Bob has had a long and distinguished professional career in animal welfare, during which time he has been responsible for many creative and innovative initiatives that have enhanced the status and welfare of animals in the New Zealand community. You can read more about him at the end of the article.

As requested by Bob I’m adding an image he supplied.

PHOTO KITTEN & QUOTE.jpg

COMPANION ANIMALS IN AOTEAROA
OPINION – Bob Kerridge, Animal Welfarist.

The average peace-loving New Zealander may not be aware of it but, apparently, we are at war. If you find this difficult to comprehend, and a little frightening, for verification you need go no further than listen to the war-like rhetoric emanating from the people at Predator Free-2050.

This new, but generously funded, movement has a clear mission: To be rid of all predators, (whatever or whoever they may be), by the year 2050, with its website calling us to arms urging us to ‘unite to fight’. The dialogue from command headquarters tells us that the ‘threat of invasion is here’ but that “we have an army of tens of thousands of New Zealanders’ to undertake ‘a military campaign to push the invaders back, just as we did in the last two world wars’.
This disturbing talk exemplifies a dangerous path down which we are being led which could result in an ecological disaster because of this new-found obsession to become predator free. In a recently published paper two eminent ecologists, Professor Wayne Linklater and Dr Jamie Steer, are critical of the methodology being employed: ‘While Predator Free-2050 is well intentioned’, they concluded, ‘New Zealand’s future conservation policies need to be less bombastic, and better informed by the environmental, ecological and social sciences’. In a separate interview Linklater went further when he stated that New Zealanders would regard being ‘cruelty free’ a far greater goal than ‘predator free’, an aspiration with which I totally concur.

Not surprisingly the troops being deployed to free us of all these predators is the Department of Conservation, (DoC), who of course are willing and able to do the job. In my naivety I used to believe that conservation meant preserving our special and unique biodiversity, until I heard the previous Minister, Maggie Barry, proudly proclaiming for all to hear that ‘my guys at Doc are incredibly good at killing things’. Given there are many dedicated individuals employed by DoC who labour long and hard to preserve the lives of many of our endangered species, and more power to them, this was a foolish and heartless statement to make. It is little wonder that a number of previously employed high-ranking scientists are describing the current atmosphere at DoC as ‘toxic’ with a ‘culture of war and a lot of discontent’.

Dr Arian Wallach of the University of Technology, Sydney, and Fellow of the Charles Darwin University, described the essence of conservation succinctly when she stated: ‘The aim of conservation is not to generate an ever increasing (dead) body count, but to guide human behaviours to enable the rest of the earth’s species to flourish’.

The major weapon in DoC’s vast armoury, and akin to the H-bomb, is sodium fluoroacetate, (1080), a cheap and particularly nasty pesticide which is as indiscriminate in whom it targets as it is efficient in killing them. Registered as the most toxic pesticide by the World Health Organisation it was the only chemical weapon reportedly found in Saddam Hussein’s arsenal. 1080 is outlawed in a large number of countries, but to our absolute shame New Zealand has been using it since it was first trialled here in 1954. Despite growing public abhorrence, we are now purchasing 80% of the total supply, making us by far the largest user in the world.

The evils of 1080 are well documented including its permanent effect on our flora and fauna, destroying micro-organisms and insects, (the diet of many birds), the contamination of our waterways, human health risks, the slow and agonising death of untargeted animals, (both large and small), and also, ironically, many of the native birds it’s meant to be protecting. And yet, despite this history I am told that last year 350 million poison baits were dropped on our little country, thus perpetuating what can only be described as a national disgrace.

So just who are these invaders that, as Predator Free-2050 advocates, need this military effort to defeat ‘because it is a very insidious war they have waged’ against us’? The irony is that these so-called invading species have no ability or desire to declare war, or any concept of what is being plotted against them, or why, neither have they the ability to protect themselves or fight back. In fact it’s a bit of a one-sided war, rather more a premeditated annihilation I would suggest.
In reality the selection of predators that need to be killed is at the behest of the greatest predator of them all, humans, either because we just don’t like them, or they are introduced species and not native to our shores, or we have the mistaken belief that if we exterminate them our ecology will be rescued from certain peril. In general the reasons are unscientific and immoral, as are the weapons used against them.

Unbelievably the latest animal to be selected as a targeted predator will astound and horrify most people, but will delight rats, and Gareth Morgan. In an incredulous move the current Minister of Conservation, Eugene Sage, wants to see Kiwi wandering the urban gardens of Wellington, which would not exactly be their choice of where they would wish to reside given the human dangers associated with urban living and their lack of natural bush protection to which they are accustomed. The Minister noted that to achieve this urban dream cats would have to go, parroting the demands of the insidious ‘cats to go’ campaign, requiring ‘having cats inside, and when your cat dies then not replacing it’. So it’s cats or kiwis.

Local and Regional Councils throughout New Zealand, who have never before shown any interest in cats, are now wanting to illegally label them as ‘pest cats’ so they can be destroyed without question, again acceding to Morgan’s dictate that ‘any cat that is free to range should be a dead cat’.

That constitutes another declaration of war, and of course weapons of mass destruction exist, especially for cats. This one comes in the form of the unpronounceable para-aminopropiophenone, or PAPP as it is generally known, currently and unashamedly being trialled by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. PAPP is as hideous as 1080 coming in the form of a paste which, once ingested, starts a process of dying which is inhumane and painfully slow, with death averaging an horrendous 3 hours and 51 seconds to occur. During the process signs of toxicosis occur, (head nodding, lethargy, uncontrolled movement and lack of balance), eventually advancing to unresponsiveness and collapse but fully conscious and aware, with final unconsciousness occurring only moments before death.

The persecution of cats, the country’s most popular and adored companion animal, is as unfathomable as it is without foundation. Ecologist Gary J Patonec, (USA), commented: ‘What I find inconsistent in an otherwise scientific debate about biodiversity is how the indictment of cats has been pursued in spite of the evidence’.

I have to question, just what is the motivation that drives people to hate so vehemently that they are quite content in subjecting cats and other sentient beings to such extremes of torture before killing them? But remember we are, apparently, at war and the conservation soldiers are doing it to make the world a better place being totally oblivious to the probable ecological consequences of their extermination practices. The slaughter of one species on the pretext of saving another for the greater good in the name of conservation is reprehensible.
Predator Free-2050 claims to have an ‘army of tens of thousands of New Zealanders’, many of them recruited from children whose schools have received money and complimentary traps if they accede to the terms and conditions of war. Others are equally innocent urban families where the aim is to have ‘a trap in every fifth backyard across New Zealand’ which is creating a generation who, and I am quoting ‘find killing animals weirdly addictive’.

Such a trend is deeply disturbing and I wonder where, in contrast, is the public outrage? Because these trends are often introduced under stealth perhaps people are not aware of where this war is leading us, what weapons of mass destruction are being used, or what the consequences will be. And where are the mechanisms in place that will protect animals from such abuse, or are there none? Are we just going to sit back and watch New Zealanders fall into moral decay?

French ornithologist Jean Dorst conveys some sobering and relevant words of wisdom: ‘Whatever the metaphysical position is adopted and whatever place is given to the human species, man has no right to destroy a species of plant of animal on the pretext that it is useless. We have no right to exterminate what we have not created’.

I have no hesitation in adding my heartfelt support to that sentiment, as my dream for our country has always been that we respect and love all life, and that humans, animals and the environment can coexist in harmony, in addition to a belief that we can, if it is our will, realise that dream. Keep believing.

Bob Kerridge can be contacted on:
Email: bob.kerridge@gmail.com

He resides in Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay
Bob Kerridge has had a long and distinguished professional career in animal welfare, during which time he has been responsible for many creative and innovative initiatives that have enhanced the status and welfare of animals in the New Zealand community.

During his tenure of 32 years with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, (SPCA), Bob Kerridge assumed many roles including Chief Executive, Executive Director and member of the Board. He was a National Councillor with the Royal NZ SPCA, eventually becoming its National President, and was also a Director of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, (WSPA). He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 and promoted to Officer of the Order for services to animal welfare and governance in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2018.
He has recently established a Fellowship to seek positive and harmonious solutions for animals, humans and the environment.

SOURCE

1080, DOC, News, Ospri, Poison, tb

Correspondence from OSPRI on their deliberate release of TB infected possums

6 Comments

OSPRI RESPONSE TO RECENT QUESTIONING RE CLARENCE RESERVE, MARLBOROUGH, IN RELATION TO AERIAL 1080 POISONING

Carol Sawyer writes: “This correspondence was sent to me by a Facebook friend last night and I felt it was worth posting in its entirety. It includes, for example, such questions as whether any rat and/or possum population assessment was carried out on the Clarence Reserve – either before or after the Oct 2016 aerial 1080 poison drop.

Nick Hancox, OSPRI Policy Advisor, is clearly rattled by reference to their release of deliberately Tb-infected possums.
He says below (6 July, 2017) “In closing I ask you to note that the deliberate release of TB-infected possums (for research purposes) was into a small area of the Orongorongo Valley, where TB in possums was already chronic and at high prevalence. The experimental release was immaterial in regard to disease risk and prevalence in the area. Unfortunately this matter has been the subject of a number of ill-founded and frankly mischievous pubic statements and claims.”

He appears to be denying the same thing was done at Muzzle Station in the Clarence Reserve. Well it was!

So I have also included earlier correspondence I had myself with OSPRI (April 2016) re deliberately infected possums released on Muzzle Station. Muzzle Station leases about 8,000 ha of the Clarence Reserve.”

***************************************************

RE DELIBERATELY INFECTING POSSUMS WITH TB (Carol’s correspondence referred to above)

I had a phone conversation in April, 2016, with Phillip Dawson, Operations Extension Officer for OSPRI NZ Ltd in Hamilton and he sent me this email

“Hello,

Links below might help to explain the release of TB infected animals for research, as we discussed over the phone.

Release of tb possum in Orongorongo valley https://www.tbfree.org.nz/research-work-vital-to-achieving-…

Muzzle station research https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/…/how-does-chronic-tb-af…

Not sure of how many more of these might have been done but all would have been under a controlled conditions where TB animals can be traced and removed and where TB is already in wildlife in the area.

Regards, Phil”

I asked Phil if he thought they would kill all the remaining possums with the 1080 drop and he said they would kill 90% of the possums and eventually do two more drops and get the rest!

**********************************************************
RECENT CORRESPONDENCE WITH OSPRI :

Information request to TBfree

Sent: Monday, 3 April 2017 6:03:33 p.m.
Subject: TBfree Contact Us Form

Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park, including the hunting area known as Clarence Reserve, near Kaikoura, South Island was subjected to aerial 1080 poisoning on the 16 Oct 2016 as part of the agency TB Free’s ‘pesticide control’.
An OIA response from TBFree informed me that the rationale for the operation was because 10 pigs over 2 years were found with TB and that there had been ‘an assumption’ (scientific knowledge unknown) that possum were therefore carrying it too.
Recent OIA results from DoC’s aerial 1080 poison drop at Makarora Valley, South Island revealed that no possum count had been undertaken at all and that rat population assessments revealed very low levels of rats.

With this in mind, I am interested to know the following:
Whether any rat and/or possum population assessment was carried out at Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park – either before or after the Oct 2016 aerial 1080 poison drop. Please provide detailed methodology and results of these assessments (if they exist).
I understand that there is a current proposal for a further 44,000 hectares adjacent to the Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park to be aerial 1080 poisoned later in 2017 – The Clarence River reserve. Can you explain why this proposal does not currently appear on DoC Pesticide Summary Interactive map? Can you clarify where such information might be readily available to the public and tourists translations if required?
Finally, can you please provide full details of the rationale for this proposed 1080 poison operation at Clarence Reserve and whether this is at all connected to the 10 wild pigs contained in the previous rationale? Again, I need measurement and assessment (methodology, results) of rats and possum populations within this specific area within the last 5 years (if this exists).

For the purposes of this OIA I confirm I am an NZ resident.

*****************************************************************************

On 4/05/2017, at 11:10, Nick Hancox ( Nick.Hancox@tbfree.org.nz ) wrote:

Dear ………….

I reply to your emailed information request of 3 April 2017 (copied below) as follows:

TBfree NZ completed aerial 1080 baiting for possum control over part of Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park on 16 October 2016, as part of our Kowhai Swyncombe operation.

Prior to that operation, possum density within the target area had been estimated (in 2014) using Bite Mark Index methodology. This returned a mean Bite Mark Index (BMI) of 12%. Details of the methodology are available at http://www.npca.org.nz/…/a1_possum%20monitoring_2015-nov_lr….

Post-operational monitoring of possum density has not been carried out for the Kowhai-Swyncombe operation. It is our normal practice to monitor possum densities no earlier than 2-3 years after aerial control operations. This later monitoring is more useful, in that it provides an indication of any population recovery and thus allows us to begin the process of monitoring the need for further control work.

Information provided to you on 13 March 2017 (as attached) on findings of TB infected pigs was in relation to TBfree’s planned 2017 Clarence Reserve operation. This operation was originally planned to commence from 1 July 2017. However we are currently negotiating timing of the operation with affected landowners, which is likely to result in a later start date for this operation, possibly in November.

We have no possum monitoring results from the Clarence Reserve operational area. Possum numbers are assumed to be high enough to warrant control, because of the lack of previous possum control in the area. As previously advised to you, the history of TB in both livestock and wild pigs from the area is strongly indicative of TB infection in possums.

We do not monitor rat populations associated with TB possum control operations unless this is specifically required by the Department of Conservation.

DOC Pesticide Summary information for the Clarence Reserve Operation will appear after DOC has been formally notified of a detailed operational plan. This requires consent and boundary agreements to be finalised with affected and neighbouring landowners. Negotiations towards this are still in progress, so the Pesticide Summary may not appear for another month or more. Formal prior notification of the operation – as required under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act – involves a number of steps, including:

· Written notification and visits to all land occupiers within and adjacent to the control area

· Written notice to known likely users of the area, such as hunting and outdoors groups and clubs, concession holders and guides

· A public meeting in Kaikoura which will be advertised

· Notices in local newspapers

· Signposting at all likely access points

Attached for your information is a factsheet for the Clarence Reserve Operation, which will be distributed as part of the above notification. The factsheet for last year’s Kowhai-Swyncombe operation is also attached.

Yours sincerely

Nick Hancox

NICK HANCOX

SENIOR OPERATIONAL POLICY ADVISOR

OSPRI New Zealand Limited

**********************************************************

Hello again Nick.

Can you please inform me as to why the Clarence River area cattle herd apparently historically displaying bTb has not been culled? Whilst travelling in this area last month, it was obvious that cattle were being walked down public highways through traffic and other contamination risks.

It seems blatantly obvious to me that with no possum assessment or monitoring done and no changes to the way cattle are transported through the area, and no culling of infected herds, that the situation will remain the same.

This cycle of aerial poisoning without scientific rationale – especially when elsewhere possum are being deliberately infected with Tb and released into the environment – is unsustainable and the Directors of Ospri & Doc will now become accountable.

Your response?

*************************************************************

From: Nick Hancox <Nick.Hancox@tbfree.org.nz>
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2017 at 13:59

Dear……

Without knowing exactly which cattle were being moved where, it is difficult for me to comment. However when cattle are driven along roads, this is usually to move them from one paddock to another within their home farm. This in itself would not create risk of infection spreading to other cattle herds, and in the Clarence Reserve locality, wildlife TB will be also be present, so local droving of cattle along roads would not create any additional disease transmission risks. There are strict controls on movement of cattle from infected herds to live sale or to other herds, and in most cases movement direct to slaughter is the only realistic option. Transmission of TB from cattle to humans (other than by drinking unpastuerised milk from a cow with advanced tuberculous mastitis, or through close and confined contact such as in a milking shed) is extremely unlikely.

TB-infected herds are subject to regular TB tests and all test-positive animals are culled. This usually sufficient to eradicate TB from herds after a few whole-herd tests, unless the herd is exposed to re-infection from wildlife. In the latter case a regular test and slaughter regime can at least keep infection within the herd down to a level where continuing to maintain the herd is feasible and economic.

Whole herd slaughter is an option in some cases but it makes little sense where re-infection from wildlife is likely, as any replacement herd would soon become infected as well.

You can find details of herd testing and movement control policies in our National Operational Plan at http://www.tbfree.org.nz/national-operational-plan.aspx

In closing I ask you to note that the deliberate release of TB-infected possums (for research purposes) was into a small area of the Orongorongo Valley, where TB in possums was already chronic and at high prevalence. The experimental release was immaterial in regard to disease risk and prevalence in the area. Unfortunately this matter has been the subject of a number of ill-founded and frankly mischievous pubic statements and claims.

Yours sincerely

Nick

NICK HANCOX

SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR

OSPRI New Zealand Limited

**************************************************************

Photos

1 ) (Header) Possum being deliberately injected with Tb before release into wild – Landcare Research photo
2 ) Mustering on Muzzle Station – Musters oldest team member, Rick Denton – Photo RadioNZ
3) Hereford cattle crossing the Clarence River on Muzzle Station – Photo “Stuff”

SOURCE

1080, News, Poison, Putaruru poisoning

POISONED WAIKATO FAMILY: An experienced hunter asks why no authorities have contacted the hunter who provided the meat that may also have killed his own dog

1 Comment

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 :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6i4pZ5RYI4

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 :

https://envirowatchrangitikei.wordpress.com/…/update-on-th…/

FOR A HISTORY OF THIS STORY GO HERE:

https://envirowatchrangitikei.wordpress.com/suspected-1080-poisoning-cases/

FURTHER POST SCRIPT FROM CLYDE GRAF:

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

www.pestoff.co.nz
pestoff.co.nz

FOR FURTHER ARTICLES ON 1080 use the categories drop down box at left of page.

Search also in the search box.

For further info on 1080, and for links to resources go here.

1080, News, Poison

The most disturbing thing to watch is a 1080ed animal die … the pleading in their eyes as they try and drag themselves to shelter

3 Comments

by Stewart Shand via Carol Sawyer

 “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.

Photo – Morepork and young, Wikipedia

1080, News, Poison

Deer are Mass-poisoned in NZ

2 Comments

Published on Nov 24, 2017

Poisoning agencies and their apologists claim that few non-target animals are killed in poisoning operations. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s a collection of recent incidents …

The Graf Boys – Clyde & Steve Graf

http://www.youtube.com/thegrafboys

http://www.thegrafboys.org

http://www.tvwild.co.nz

See our 1080 pages also for more info on 1080, and search in categories for other articles.

1080, News

DEATH BY 1080 POISON IS LIKE BEING ELECTROCUTED FOR TWO PLUS DAYS, SAYS VET

3 Comments

This is a Facebook Post by Carol Sawyer

horse death 1080.jpg

1080 POISON LIKE BEING ELECTROCUTED FOR TWO PLUS DAYS, SAYS VET

A vet who is prepared to speak out is Dr Howard Ralph BVSc (Hons). MBBS (Hons), MVS (Wildlife Medicine), JCCA Accred (Anaesthesia), Dip TESL, A/D Fine Arts, Cert Ed NSW, Clinical Forensic M O, Manly Sydney, NSW, Australia

He says “1080 poison – it is like being electrocuted for 2 plus days”.

The SAFE NZ ( Save Animals From Exploitation ) website says :

“Cruel effects of 1080

Death from 1080 is cruel and protracted. Animals receiving a lethal dose of 1080 show severe signs of poisoning, with death resulting from heart or respiratory failure. Clinical signs of poisoning include rapid and laboured breathing, tremors and muscle spasms, terminal convulsions and death. It usually takes possums between 6-18 hours to die.

A witness to a possum poisoning commented, ( and you have to ask yourself what kind of scientist could actually deliberately poison possums to see what 1080 poison did, then witness this and not want to put the poor creature out of its misery !! ) :

“From about four hours after poisoning until death all lethally dosed possums exhibited spasms involving the limbs or body. Possums vocalised during spasms, tremors or seizures. Vocalisation was loud and prolonged. (Squeaking, gasping and gagging noises were also frequently heard during retching and terminal breathing.) Seizures included stiffening of limbs with hunching of the shoulders; jerks in limbs, head, abdomen or shoulder; leg paddling; rolling onto the back with a stiffened body; continuous body rolling; trembling; and rigidity of the entire body. Possums were sometimes propelled into the air by these movements…”

1080 is not a humane way to kill any animal. Death is painful, torturous and slow.”

large 2 1080.png

Possums take 6 to 18 hours to die. Pictured is an orphaned possum joey whose mother died just such a death. Of course this baby had to die too. Thousands of these joeys are left to die a lingering death in our forests – cold and hungry and alone. They just can’t all be saved even if they are found.

SOURCE:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/143218142750417/?multi_permalinks=259982531073977&notif_t=group_activity&notif_id=1489638617338143

Taupo 1080 drop

How is it these people are not charged with cruelty to animals?!

See the TheGrafBoys YT channel and website for more videos. Educate yourself on 1080 poisoning. See also http://1080science.co.nz/

Check out our 1080 pages for further info & links, &/or search ‘categories’.  Use the share buttons to help spread the word on all the untruths we have been told … help us spread truth.

Thank you!

EnvirowatchRangitikei

1080, Animal Welfare, Chemicals, News

There’s no credible scientific evidence showing any species of native bird benefits from 1080 drops – two scientists speak out

5 Comments

Here is an article from 2007, and the drops continue, in spite of the clear scientific evidence it is not beneficial to our ecosystem. One has to ask, what, aside from profits, is their agenda?

“We have audited Department of Conservation scientific research and produced an 88-page monograph reviewing more than 100 scientific papers.

The results are startling and belie most of the department’s claims.

  • First, there is no credible scientific evidence showing that any species of native bird benefits from the dropping of tonnes of 1080 into our forest ecosystems
  • Second, considerable evidence exists that DoC’s aerial 1080 operations are doing serious harm”
    Quinn and Patricia Whiting-O’Keefe

Scientists, Quinn and Patricia Whiting-O’Keefe: “Poison facts belie the claims”

6.png
NZ drops into its forests about 4,000 kg of pure 1080 per year, enough to kill 20 million people

There is now a familiar litany of scientifically insupportable claims about what great things aerial 1080, a universal poison, is doing for our forest ecosystems. The people of New Zealand have a right to know the truth about what the scientific evidence shows.

We have audited Department of Conservation scientific research and produced an 88-page monograph reviewing more than 100 scientific papers.

The results are startling and belie most of the department’s claims.

Copy of kepler track.jpg
The oxymoron that DOC’s signage is

First, there is no credible scientific evidence showing that any species of native bird benefits from the dropping of tonnes of 1080 into our forest ecosystems, as claimed by the department and Kevin Hackwell. There is certainly no evidence of net ecosystem benefit.

fwdfwdockills7outof9kea7
1080 is killing large numbers of native species

We have repeatedly challenged DoC and Mr Hackwell, a representative of the Forest and Bird Society, to come forward with the hard scientific evidence for their “dead forest” claims. They have not.

Second, considerable evidence exists that DoC’s aerial 1080 operations are doing serious harm, as one would expect, given that 1080 is toxic to all animals. It kills large numbers of native species of birds, invertebrates and bats.

Moreover, most native species are completely unstudied. In addition considerable evidence shows there are chronic and sublethal effects to vertebrate endocrine and reproductive systems, possibly including those of humans.

Copy of 4.png
Considerable evidence demonstrates that DOC’s aerial 1080 operations are doing serious harm

Third, DoC claims that one can drop food laced with 1080, a universal poison (World Health Organisation classification “1A extremely hazardous”) indiscriminately into a semi-tropical forest ecosystem and only negatively affect one or two target “pest” species. That is counterintuitive and scientifically improbable.

Fourth, as far as we can determine no other country in the world is doing (or has ever done) anything remotely similar – mass poisoning of a semi-tropical ecosystem on the scale that the department is now doing to ours.

Fifth, and perhaps most disturbing, is that what the department-sponsored research shows has been habitually misrepresented – entirely unjustifiable assertions regarding 1080’s benefits and lack of harm.

Statements like those of Mr Hackwell that the forests will be “dead” without poisoning them with 1080, and from John McLennan (Landcare Research) and Al Morrison (Director General of DoC) that 1080 is existentially necessary to Kiwis is pure demagoguery and scientific nonsense.

What is at risk by continuation of this extraordinary practice – and it is unique in the world – is the ecological integrity of our forest ecosystems, our reputation as an environmentally sane and responsible country, and our existence as a society in which reason and rationality can triumph over bureaucratic prerogative and budgetary gain.

Since Galileo Galilee first discovered the moons of Jupiter in the 17th century, the way to resolve this kind of disagreement has been to do the experiment and examine the evidence, and that is precisely what we urge everyone to do.

Don’t believe DoC. Don’t believe Mr Hackwell. Don’t believe us – believe the evidence. To that end we will provide a copy of our report and the source scientific research papers to all who would like to read them.

* Quinn and Patricia Whiting-O’Keefe are retired scientists.

SOURCE:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10448063

Read the Whiting-O’Keefe report HERE

If you have difficulty with the link to the report go to our Resources page & see it there.

keadeaths1080

NOTE: See the TheGrafBoys YT channel and website for more videos. Educate yourself on 1080 poisoning. See also http://1080science.co.nz/

See also our 1080 pages for info & links, &/or search ‘categories’ drop down box for further related articles (at left of any page).

EWR

 

1080, Animal Welfare, Chemicals, News

The Aerial Application of 1080 Poison That is Banned in the U.S. Due to the Extreme Hazard to Human Health and Environment, is Practically Open Slather in NZ

1 Comment

possum-667897_1280

 “Aerial application of 1080 poison is banned in the U.S. due to the extreme hazard to human health and to the environment.”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

From safe.org.nz
“There’s controversy In Paradise. New Zealand is proud of its clean, green and pure image. However the use of 1080 poisoning as the main weapon in the war against animals regarded as ‘pests’ is controversial.

A cruel and indiscriminate poison, 1080 is used to kill unwanted animals which include possums, feral cats, rabbits, rats and stoats. Its use in New Zealand has been a contentious issue since it was first employed as a pesticide in 1954. Research has shown that the use of this poison is extremely cruel, and dangerous to non-target animals.”

Find out more about the extensive use of 1080 in New Zealand, including:

What is 1080?
1080 targets
Quick Facts

http://safe.org.nz/issue/1080

Find further articles on 1080 under ‘categories’ top left of any page, &/or check out our 1080 page for links to further info.

EnvirowatchRangitikei

1080, Chemicals, DOC, News, NZ

As Kiwis Protest Today Nationwide – A Mt Pirongia 1080 Poison Drop in 2014 Breached the Manufacturer’s Warning by Discharging to Water

Today NZ wide Kiwis who are concerned about this toxic poisoning of our once clean green paradise, are protesting (peacefully) to draw attention to this vital issue! See the fresh water crays pulling those pellets away to eat? They are now inedible but who would know? Educate yourself on 1080 it is not what we are led to believe. EnvirowatchRangitikei

Published on Sep 13, 2014

On the 22nd of August, 2014, 32,000 kilos of 1080 poison bait was cast across Mt Pirongia, near Hamilton. It was enough poison to kill 240,000 people, almost twice the population of Hamilton…

A previous 2007 drop across the mountain was “hailed a success” by Waikato Regional Council, despite farmers raising concern about contamination, including to drinking water.

The New Zealand manufacturer’s (owned by NZ Govt) 1080 poison label includes the following warnings –

“Ecotoxic”,
“Toxic to terrestrial vertebrates.”
“Take measures to reduce of non-target animals being exposed to the toxin either through eating the baits or by scavenging the carcasses of poisoned animals.”
“Harmful to aquatic organisms.”
“Take all practicable steps to manage any harmful effects of a spillage including preventing baits from accidentally entering streams or waterways.”
“This product is toxic to wildlife. Birds and mammals feeding on carcasses of contaminated animals may be fatally poisoned.”
“Where practicable, the exposed bodies of all poisoned animals should be collected and destroyed by complete burning or deep burial in a landfill approved for hazardous substances. Dehydrated carcasses may remain dangerous to dogs or cats for an indefinite period. A single mouse poisoned by 1080 may contain enough poison to kill an adult dog.”
“Take measures to minimise the chance of baits accidentally entering any body of water.”

And … “Apply the product only as specified by label directions.” …

Flight charts released by the Department of Conservation reveal that 1080 poison was dropped directly into most streams and catchments, including to eight of the nine known water abstraction points. Poisoned carcasses have been left to rot in the streams, and animal welfare concerns have been raised. The Department of Conservation Mt Pirongia aerial drop, breached or ignored all of these warnings …

See the TheGrafBoys YT channel and website for more videos. Educate yourself on 1080 poisoning. See also http://1080science.co.nz/

See also our 1080 pages for info & links, &/or search ‘categories’ drop down box for further related articles (at left of any page). 

Follow our blog or like our FB page  to help spread the word on all the untruths we have been told – we are about exposing corruption and lies!  Use the share buttons! 

 

1080, Animal Welfare, DOC, Health, News

Bovine TB Deliberately Spread By Government

4 Comments

My as Alice said it gets curiouser and curiouser. Be sure to read the related article from the Whale Oil blog. Some interesting info there on the TB stats.
EnvirowatchRangitikei

MIL OSI – Source: New Zealand First – Press Release/Statement

Headline: Bovine TB Deliberately Spread By Government

New Zealand First says it is incomprehensible that Government agencies are using taxpayers money, and farmers’ Animal Health Levies, to introduce bovine tuberculosis (BTB) into an area previously determined to be free of the disease.

TB Free NZ is funding a Landcare research project close to Wellington where possums are deliberately inoculated with TB and then released to spread the disease in the wild, in what is described as a “transmission trial.”

TB Free now plans to “cull” the affected animals by way of an otherwise completely unnecessary 1080 poison drop over a huge region of the Rimutaka Forest Park that borders farmland and includes waterways, hiking tracks, and hunting areas.

“They know the 1080 won’t get all the possums, but 1080 will kill a lot of native birds as well as deer, and the artificially infected surviving possums will probably infect livestock with TB as a result,” says Primary Industries and Outdoor Recreation Spokesperson Richard Prosser.

READ MORE

RELATED:

CAN WE STOP THE LYING ABOUT POSSUMS AND TB NOW PLEASE?

Public Health Surveillance Stats

1080, Animal Welfare, Chemicals, News, NZ, Poison, Pollution

1080 Dropped Directly into Coromandel Water Supplies & baits left by DoC on public walkways & seats

3 Comments

This drop of 1080 occurred late in 2015. As those in the video illustrate, they were not warned to cease drawing drinking water from the streams. In addition young kids interviewed saw baits on seats, public walkways and in the water. None of this was cleaned up afterwards by DOC. Locals also cited the known death historically of 8 local dogs. Concerned people who inquired of DOC were told they have nothing to worry about and yet, the poison manufacturer’s warning advises against baits entering any body of water. It is ‘harmful to aquatic organisms’. ‘Department of Conservation’ is really a bit of a misnomer I would say… EnvirowatchRangitikei

TheGrafBoys

Published on Sep 23, 2015

On the 13th and 14th of September, 2015, the Department of Conservation aerially spread 1080 poison across 23,500 hectares of the Coromandel Peninsula. Enough poison was distributed to kill over 340,000 people.

Dairy farmer Bevin Fox tells how he was provided no alternative water supply while his cows drank water sourced from within the drop zone.

Coromandel locals tell how they were drawing water without being notified 1080 poison had been dropped a few hundred metres upstream …

coro 5.png

See the TheGrafBoys YT channel and website for more videos. Educate yourself on 1080 poisoning. See also http://1080science.co.nz/

See also our 1080 pages for info & links, &/or search ‘categories’ drop down box for further related articles (at left of any page). 

Consider liking our FB page &/or following our blog (right of any page) to help spread the word on all the untruths we have been told – we are about exposing corruption and lies!  Use the share buttons! 

Thank you!

EnvirowatchRangitikei

1080, Agenda 2030, News

TROUT MASS-POISONED IN NEW ZEALAND-DOC warned fishermen in 2014 not to eat their catch

7 Comments

A small reality check here: our waters in NZ are no longer pristine … in fact only 40% of them are safe enough to swim in. Our PTB have settled for ‘Ok to wade in’. This warning by DOC was later retracted (see end of article) however in my opinion, from reading the info, the evidence for its safety doesn’t stack up. Do research it for yourself….   EnvirowatchRangitikei

Published on Sep 29, 2014

New Zealand has some of the best trout fishing in the world!

Every year, thousands of international visitors wade pristine rivers in search of the freshwater game fish.

Large brown trout abound some back-country streams, and feisty rainbows reach weights of double figures in many regions. But there’s a problem facing New Zealand fishing, and it’s toxic, very toxic.

The Department of Conservation is using helicopters to aerially spread the deadly pesticide 1080 poison across New Zealand’s forests and streams. The poison is targeted at introduced possums and bush rats, but many other animals, birds and insects are killed, including deer.

The poison contaminates the food chain, and in a rare admission, the Department of Conservation is warning fishermen to avoid eating their catch, despite paying for the privilege …

This video clip shows that the poisoning of New Zealand’s trout goes much further than a few pesky mice…

Here is a media alert at the time from stuff.co.nz:

1080 Prompts Trout Warning

“Anglers are being warned to avoid eating fish caught in back country waters as they could be tainted by 1080 poison.

The Department of Conservation plans to aerially drop 1080 poison across 700,000 hectares of conservation land, mostly in the South Island, to reduce rodent numbers. 

Fishing groups expressed concerns that mice – which were often eaten by trout – could carry sub-lethal amounts of 1080, posing a food safety risk for humans.

DOC commissioned independent research into the risk, finding 1080 levels in trout flesh were significantly higher than recognised food safety guidelines…..

Read More

DOC predictably scaled back their warning  further down the track, however NZ Fish & Game advised erring on the side of caution … “Fish & Game advises that if you have concerns, you should not to eat trout flesh from trout caught in 1080-poisoned catchments, until advised otherwise.” The following video by the Graf Boys takes a closer look at the research cited which ‘officially’ deems the risk from 1080 to aquatic life ‘low’. There are holes in it.

I personally consider it essential for you to research 1080 for yourself. There is much spin about many products from corporations whose bottom line is profit. You need to keep an open mind and read the independent research as well. Long gone is the day we can simply trust what a corporation says. Their legal obligation is to their shareholders, not you. Don’t believe me? Watch The Corporation documentary. And eat any wildlife from poisoned areas at your own risk.

 

Published on Jan 3, 2015

In a letter to the CE of Waikato Regional Council, the CE of the Environmental Protection Authority suggests that 1080 poison does not harm aquatic life, and breaks down into harmless bi-products in water.

However, some of the research referenced – Niwa freshwater ecologist Dr Alistair Suren’s work – highlights a common trend in the poison industry, with regard to the misrepresentation of 1080-poison science by New Zealand authorities, and those that use the poison …

See the TheGrafBoys YT channel and website for more videos. Educate yourself on 1080 poisoning. See also http://1080science.co.nz/

See also our 1080 pages for info & links, &/or search categories for further related articles (at left of any page). 

Consider liking our FB page &/or following our blog (right of any page) to help spread the word on all the untruths we have been told – we are about exposing corruption and lies!  Use the share buttons! 

Thank you!

EnvirowatchRangitikei