Dog owners are being told to be extra vigilant after a large-scale 1080 drop in the hill country between the Motueka Valley and the Upper Takaka and Cobb valleys.
The possum control operation by TBfree New Zealand has applied green cereal 1080 bait pellets across 22-and-a-half-thousand hectares in the Kahurangi National Park and adjacent land.
Warning signs have been erected at access points - declaring dogs must be kept out.
Programme Manager Matt Hickson says the risk to dogs will continue until all poisoned possum carcasses have decomposed, which may take several months.
