1080 – the all-purpose killer
'1080 causes an horrific death and kills not only possums
and wallabies but can also kill protected species such as bettongs,
potoroos and wombats....also native birds which feed on poisoned carcasses'.
– Doctors for Forests spokesperson Dr Frank Nicklason
Mercury Newspaper 10 January 2002
The Targets
1080 (or sodium monofluoroacetate) is a poison which affects both native and non-native animals. It is widely used by National Parks and Wildlife Service, Rural Lands Protection Board, Farmers and Councils to kill foxes, dingoes, wild dogs, cats, goats, rabbits, pigs and other animals. The frequently offered excuse is that it is to protect Australian native species. This is not true.
In Tasmania, the government subsidises farmers and the woodchip industry to poison possums and wallabies with 1080. Both are native animals. In April this year the Queensland Government announced a major 1080 poisoning campaign of dingoes. The dingo has been in Australia at least 3000 and up to 8000 years. The 1080 was dumped in National Parks and on other public lands. Such campaigns poison not only the target population, but also any other animal which consumes either the bait or the poisoned carcass.
1080 drops happen year after year because farmers will not electrically fence their properties to keep these animals out. In 1999 in Tasmania there were 700 drops. In 2002 it is likely there will be up to 1000. Some farmers strongly object to the annual slaughter of native animals by 1080, but the practice continues.
In the city we are mainly aware of 1080 through its extensive use by councils to kill cats and foxes. Companion animals, native animals and birds die as well. But 1080 is cheap and easily available. Councils and farmers do not wish to see it banned.
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How Does 1080 Work?
Death by 1080 is protracted and cruel. Animals poisoned with 1080 scream, vomit, defecate and suffer violent seizures. They die with a final seizure up to 12 hours after ingestion of the poison. The late Dr Peter Rawlinson, Conservationist and Lecturer in Zoology at La Trobe University, Melbourne said of 1080: 'Animals can take up to four days to die from it. Others go out of control after they have ingested it – they tear around banging into trees. It is impossible to say the animal is not suffering.' EEGs on poisoned animals have produced results consistent with intense pain and distress.
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The NRA Review of 1080
The National Registration Authority for Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals have now announced a Review on the use of 1080. Reasons given are 'increasing environmental concerns over the accidental poisoning of other animals. But deliberate poisoning of native animals by 1080 Australia wide has been officially and lawfully undertaken for many years (see above)
In their statement, the NRA make no mention of the suffering inflicted by use of this poison. They say that a ban will be based on 'undue hazard to human health, the environment, that it did not work, or was damaging to Australian trade' and further....'we make decisions based on science – fairly dispassionately'.
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Is 1080 'Scientific'?
There is nothing scientific about the use of 1080 – or any other lethal means of population control. In nearly all cases a species is targeted for death because of the economic or political imperatives of a government or industry. Clearly it would be better for the ecology, for native animals (including native birds) for domestic animals and for humans, if such substances were not released into the environment. Poisoning is not a scientific or even efficient means of controlling populations. The sudden removal of a large number of animals merely creates 'spaces'. and the influx of others of the same species or the survival of more of the young quickly fills them.
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Does 1080 Work?
In Tasmania 1080 has been used for 50 years to kill wallabies and the wallabies are still there. In all States 1080 has been used to kill non-native (feral) animals. The feral animals are still there.
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Is 1080 Dangerous?
1080 has been banned in Brazil since 1982 because of its danger to humans. '1080 has an effect on either or both the cardiovascular and nervous systems in all aspects producing heart contractions, arrythmias and convulsive seizures. The dangerous dose for humans is 0.5-2mg/Kg.' 1080 is also banned in most States of the USA.
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Does 1080 Harm the Environment?
There is no question 1080 kills native animals – whether intentionally because they are targeted, or as a secondary consequence. It takes many months for 1080 to break down in the bodies of the poisoned animals and death by predation is common.
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Does 1080 Save Native Animals?
It is not scientific, or even truthful, to claim that poisoning non-native (feral) animals will 'save' native animals. The demise of species in Australia, as in other countries, is overwhelmingly the consequence of the destruction of habitat and wholesale clearing of land, over-grazing by sheep and cattle, pollution and modern methods of agriculture.
It is not scientific, dispassionate, or for the long term benefit of Australia, that farmers are permitted to run enormous herds of sheep and cattle, despite their proven damage to the land and contribution to extinction of species and then to add to the damage by laying 1080 baits to poison native and non-native animals.
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ALTERNATIVES
Maremma Guard Dogs
These dogs are placed with sheep at a young age. They bond with the sheep and live with them. They are used in Europe and also in Australia. They are highly successful in fending off predators.
Electric Fencing
This is a proven method of keeping out both native and non-native animals. A study done on wild dogs in NSW showed they will by-pass farms with effective electric fencing in favour of farms which do not have them.
Fertility Control
Farmers themselves add to the numbers of non-native wild animals. Farmers commonly do not de-sex their animals. They breed and they roam and they and their progeny add to the wild animal population. Dogs used for pig hunting become lost in the bush and add to the numbers. The funding used for 1080 poisoning programs should be diverted to a rural education program to persuade farmers of the absolute necessity for de-sexing their companion animals and working dogs. This should be undertaken as a matter of urgency.
Animal Rights
There must be a recognition that other species have a right to exist. So-called 'pests' are merely animals whose habitat has been taken from them and who are surviving as best they may on what land and resources are left. Fertility control of wild animals is certainly possible and has been undertaken successfully in the US (wild horses and deer) and in Australia (kangaroo and koala). But other methods must be tried also. 1080 and all other forms of painful and lethal control are useless and unacceptable.
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