Contradictions

December, and we’re on the home stretch to Christmas. As the weather starts to warm and settle, hints of red begin to show on Wellington’s pohutukawa -  as traditional as turkey, pav and jandals in this part of the world.

Photo credit: Chris Rudge

But in wilderness areas the festive red blooms of pohutukawa, rata and native mistletoes are disappearing. Possum browsing has driven some species to extinction, and as recent drone footage shows, our mighty native forests are dying and collapsing.

Most New Zealanders agree that possum numbers need to be reduced, but the debate around how to achieve this is fraught with emotion and misunderstandings.

Our Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, re-evaluated the use of 1080 in 2011. She concluded that 1080 is safe and effective, and furthermore that without it we risk losing iconic bird species - including the kiwi - within a generation (Wright, 2011, p.20).

The risk to dogs is a controversial aspect of the debate. The PCE report includes the statistics for dog fatalities: eight dogs died from 1080 exposure over the four years prior to publication. Wright points out that more common forms of poisoning for dogs in New Zealand are slug bait and rat poison (brodifacoum) - in the suburbs. She goes on to compare the eight fatalities to the hundreds of people killed in road crashes each year, yet ‘no one is proposing a moratorium on traffic’ (p. 6). The report’s conclusions are that the use of 1080 should not only continue, but that currently we are not using enough (p.7).

In contrast Clyde and Steve Graf, vocal 1080 opponents, find the risks of aerial 1080 drops unacceptable. In their self-produced DVD Poisoning Paradise they show footage of a variety of dead and dying animals; native birds, game, and stock, describing in voiceover the inhumane effects of 1080 on these non-target species (Graf & Graf, 2009). 

Photo credit: Animal Health Board

Hunters, landowners and farmers are interviewed, unanimously criticising the science behind Department of Conservation policies around 1080 use. A number of landowners state that 1080 pellets have been dropped on their private property, and that waterways supplying their farms have been tainted, causing stock deaths. The DVD questions claims of 1080’s safety in the environment, asserting that residues remain long after sites have been declared safe (Graf & Graf 2009).

There is an inherent contradiction in the position of both the pro- and anti-1080 camps: killing animals is both acceptable and unacceptable. Is it acceptable to kill possums, in order to save endangered birds and their habitat? Is it acceptable to kill deer and pigs for sport, or stock animals for meat, but unacceptable to kill them in the course of preserving our natural heritage?

Soon advocates and opponents alike will take a well-earned break from all this debate and contradiction, to relax with their families over Christmas. It’s hard to see how the different viewpoints on 1080’s use can ever be satisfactorily resolved, but one thing is certain. There will be no kissing under this native mistletoe on Christmas Day. The possums have eaten it to extinction.

Wright, J. (2011). Evaluating the use of 1080: Predators, poisons and silent forests. Wellington: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

Graf, C. & Graf, S. (2009). Poisoning paradise: Ecocide New Zealand. (DVD). New Zealand: The Graf Boys.