Poison drop under way despite protests

Days after nationwide protests calling for a ban on the use of 1080 poison in forests, a 24,000 hectare bait drop was launched in the Remutaka Ranges.

OSPRI carried out a pre-feed pellet drop yesterday, which will be followed by cereal baits treated with 1080 toxin aimed at killing possums, potential carriers of bovine tuberculosis.

Thousands of anti-1080 protesters marched across the country on Saturday imploring the Government to stop allowing the controversial poison to be used. Protest organiser Kevin Moratti has been fighting against the poison for years and questioned the timing of the latest drop in the Lower North Island.

‘‘Currently they are dumping as much as they can as quickly as they can. The pressure is coming on now because people are standing up to be counted,’’ he said.

Moratti questioned the need for such programmes when TB had virtually been eradicated from the region. An OSPRI spokesman said the 1080 programme was an important component of its plan to eradicate bovine TB by 2026 and these operations were planned years in advance. OSPRI is a partnership between primary industries and the Government and it manages two national programmes – NAIT and TBfree.

‘‘The operation will prevent the spread of TB from the Northern Remutaka wildlife via possums into neighbouring farmland. Cattle herds in the southern Wairarapa have a long history of TB infection,’’ the spokesman said.

Department of Conservation, Federated Farmers and Forest and Bird all support the use of 1080, saying predator pest numbers are so high that without action some native forests would be seriously damaged.

OSPRI said killing possums and rats also brought biodiversity benefits for native plants and birds. It cited Victoria University studies of nearby Aorangi Forest Park showing the effect on native bird populations was negligible.