Safety reminders
Protecting your pets
Baits and poisoned animal carcasses are poisonous
to humans and domestic pets. Please keep your pets
out of areas where toxins have been used. When
in an area where poison warning signs are posted,
follow these simple rules:
Wandering and scavenging dogs are most at risk.
Dog owners are encouraged to be extra vigilant and
keep their dogs under control at all times and away
from areas where poison warning signs have been
posted. It is possible that poisoned carcasses may
also be found outside the immediate treatment area.
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Do not handle any bait.
Do not allow children to wander unsupervised.
Do not bring dogs into the area.
Do not take animals for eating.
In case of suspected poisoning, immediately
contact the National Poison Centre 0800 POISON
Bait
station
or 0800 764 766.
Brodifacoum poisoning can be treated with vitamin
K but there is no treatment for cyanide or 1080
poisoning.
If you suspect your dog has been poisoned,
induce vomiting immediately by administering one
tablespoon of common salt (mixed with water or
thrown on the back of the dog’s tongue) and
contact your local vet.
Dog owners within the operational area are
encouraged to come to DOC and arrange the
supply of a muzzle for your pet.
You will be able to resume normal activities in the
area after warning signs have been removed.
About the baits
• All poison baits are dyed green or blue.
• Bait stations are white plastic containers nailed
to trees or posts.
• Bait bags are small blue waxed paper bags
stapled to trees or posts.
• Brodifacoum and Cholecalciferol baits are
cylindrical cereal pellets about 2 cm long placed
in bait stations.
• Cyanide baits are round cereal pellets about
0.5 cm in diameter. They are mixed with
cylindrical non-toxic cereal pellets in bait stations
or contained within a cereal block in bait bags.
• 1080 baits are cylindrical cereal pellets 2-3 cm
long placed in bait stations or aerially applied
to the ground.
For more information
Please call Fin Buchanan or Erana Stevens at
the Department of Conservation in Thames on
(07) 867 9180 or Environment Waikato’s
freephone 0800 800 401.
The Peninsula Project partners responsible for
animal pest control are:
Kauaeranga
The
Peninsula Valley to Te Puru
Project
possum control
Working together to protect our people,
property and environment
Kia mau ki te mauri o te taiao o Hauraki
Our proposal
and consultation
At the beginning of 2008 landowners in the proposed
operational area received a factsheet outlining both
possum and goat control proposals. The possum control
proposal was for the Kauaeranga Valley to Te Puru,
and for operations to begin August 2008.
The community response to the proposals has on the
whole been positive and supportive. The proposals
consulted upon and supported by the community are now
the plans for the upcoming possum control operation.
Methods to be used
On private land
• DOC staff have met and are continuing to meet
with land owners to discuss possum control options
for their property.
• The methods being used are aerially applied 1080
(sodium monofluroacetate), bait stations with 1080,
encapsulated cyanide (Feratox®), cholecalciferol
(Decal®), brodifacoum (Pestoff®), and some trapping.
On public conservation land
• Aerially applied 1080 over the upper catchments
of the operational area
• In areas closer to communities, including around
water supplies, 1080 in bait stations will be used.
Cholecalciferol will be used along boundaries of
properties of landowners who have indicated this
preference.
2008/09
In 2005 Environment Waikato and the
Department of Conservation (DOC) carried
out possum control operations in the Peninsula
Project’s Southern Operational Area, from
Kauaeranga Valley to Te Puru. To maximise and
maintain the gains already achieved in this area,
a second round of possum control is planned this
financial year (2008/09).
This control operation is being carried out as part
of the Peninsula Project – a partnership between
Environment Waikato, Thames-Coromandel
District Council, Department of Conservation and
the Hauraki Maori Trust Board to improve the
health of the environment and reduce the impact
of flooding on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Possum control
and flooding
Possums eat the leaves off trees and this can kill
trees and cause groups of trees to fall over. Possum
control means fewer trees will die, resulting in a
healthy forest.
A healthy forest:
• improves the stability of the catchment and
river systems, meaning less sediment and
debris in our streams and rivers and fewer
blockages.
• acts like a sponge, absorbing water and
releasing it slowly over time.
• means less water ends up running off hillsides
and into our streams and rivers.
Ultimately, a healthy forest helps reduce the impact
of flooding in smaller rainfall events.
The Peninsula Project, August 2008
Safety measures in place
The health of the public is of primary importance to the Peninsula Project and strict safety procedures
are followed to ensure there is no risk to human health.
Medical Officer of Health consent
As is the case with all operations, consent has been
given by the Medical Officer of Health to aerially
apply 1080 and to use 1080 and cyanide in bait
stations.
Exclusion and buffer zones around
water bodies
No aerial 1080 will be applied within 60 m each
side of the Kauaeranga River.
The 370 hectare forestry area around the Thames
water intake in the Mangarehu is part of the
exclusion zone, and a 60 m buffer zone also exists
either side of the Mangarehu stream for a further
3 km above the forestry area. The Te Puru creek
water intake is approximately 3 km from the aerial
boundary, and there is a 60 m buffer zone either
side of the Te Puru Creek for a further 2 km into the
operation area.
Other precautions around water bodies
Bait stations will be kept away from streams at a
minimum of 5 m from the stream edge.
Will the water be safe after the aerial
operation?
YES. 1080 rapidly becomes non-toxic in natural
water environments. It is highly soluble and breaks
down into three compounds: a type of salt, sugar
and fluoride (Suren, 2006).
All independent water tests undertaken after 1080
drops on the Coromandel have failed to
detect any 1080 in any of the
water bodies tested.
Precise application
Navigation systems and custom-designed bait
applicators ensure that the correct amount of 1080laced bait is applied only to selected areas. EcoFX
Pest Solutions Limited, an experienced contractor
with a track record of safe operations, has been
contracted to complete the work. Two kilograms of
bait, containing a total of 3 g of actual 1080, will
be applied per hectare.
Carcass monitoring
Cats and dogs are susceptible to accidental poisoning
if they eat the carcasses of poisoned rats or possums,
or the poison baits. The risk remains until the
carcasses have rotted away. Carcass monitoring for
rats and possums will be undertaken to measure
and record the length of time between mortality and
decomposition.
Public notification
Strict regulations governing public notification of
pesticide operations will be followed. Precautions
are taken to ensure that people entering operational
areas are able to identify and avoid contact with
poison baits. These include:
• public notification in local newspapers
• prominent warning signs in areas where poison
has been used and residues may still be present
in baits or animals
• notifying adjoining landowners, and commercial
and recreational users about the operations
• provision of information to local schools and
medical providers.
The Peninsula Project