1080 tool for TB eradication

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment's (PCE) report, Evaluating the Use of 1080: Predators, Poisons and Silent Forests, supports the continued use of 1080.
This is not just for conservation purposes but to control the spread of the disease, bovine tuberculosis (TB).
The report provides a second independent review of this toxin, following the Environmental Risk Management Authority's reassessment in 2007.
While the focus of the PCE's report was on the benefits to conservation and to native fauna and flora, the use of 1080 is a key tool in the ongoing fight to control bovine TB.
Controlling TB infected pests, which in New Zealand is primarily the possum, is central to controlling the disease in cattle and deer.
Approximately 70 per cent of new herd infections occur by contact with infected pests.
TB has a huge economic and emotional impact on farmers if found in their herds and Federated Farmers supports the control and eradication of TB by the Animal Health Board.
To ensure TB is effectively controlled, the use of 1080 is a necessary tool that is effective and efficient. It ensures adequate control of possums in areas that are unsuitable for ground control methods.
Federated Farmers recognises there are risks with using any pest control toxin, but the PCE's report reinforces that if 1080 is used correctly, the risk to human health is negligible.
Current techniques have significantly reduced the risk to non target species and ongoing research will reduce risks even further.
In regards to dogs, one of the most susceptible non target species to 1080 poisoning, the PCE's Dr Jan Wright notes there is no way to protect uncontrolled dogs but with regard to the eight that have died in the past four years from 1080, many more were killed on roads "and no one is proposing a moratorium on roads. It is important to keep risks in perspective".
Federated Farmers will continue to support the use of 1080 until a viable and cost effective alternative is found, or when the pest species that harbour TB and destroy New Zealand's unique natural environment, are eradicated.
Sally Millar is a Regional Policy Adviser for Federated Farmers