| 7
May 2009
Feratox not
the alternative to 1080
Conservation groups who attended
the Department of Primary Industries and Water ‘Alternatives to
1080 Workshop’ yesterday in Launceston are alarmed that many of
the forestry and farming representatives are pinning their hopes for browsing
animal control on a new toxin Feratox. Representatives of the Tasmanian
Conservation Trust, Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania and Wilderness Society
were represented at the workshop.
Feratox is an encapsulated
form of cyanide developed to target brush-tail possums in New Zealand
and is being examined as one of the possible alternatives to 1080 poison
for use in Tasmania to control brush-tailed possum and wallabies.
“Utilising yet another
poison instead of 1080 provides an alternative that is to easy for forestry
and farming industries. Poisoning wildlife is a lazy option that does
not encourage them to work smarter with non-lethal alternatives,”
said Tasmanian Conservation Trust Acting Director Peter McGlone.
“The Tasmanian public
will not accept the continued killing of native wildlife on such a massive
scale and will not accept yet another poison as an alternative to 1080”,
said Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania spokesperson Karen Bevis.
“Although cyanide kills
more quickly than 1080 many of the problems remain - it is still a lethal
method, there is still suffering and there are still issues with killing
non-target species as well. Pouch young will not be killed by Feratox
and will be left to starve or freeze to death”, Ms Bevis continued.
While Feratox is in use in New Zealand, there are major differences between
New Zealand and Tasmania. The species being targeted here are all native
to Tasmania. Also, there are numerous other native mammals found in Tasmania
that could access the bait such as forester kangaroos, potoroos, bettongs
and ringtail possums.
“Feratox is yet to be thoroughly tested in the field in Tasmania
and until this is done we cannot assess whether it is environmentally
acceptable, especially in terms of reduced non-target impacts,”
Mr McGlone said.
The groups who attended the
workshop were impressed with the progress being made toward improving
non-lethal control of browsing animals, such as resistant seedling varieties,
repellents, seedling stockings and improved fencing guidelines.
“Many farmers have
found fencing to be an effective answer to browsing animals and Forestry
Tasmania and private forestry companies operating on State Forest are
also surviving without the option of 1080. We implore the State Government
to support non-lethal methods of control of browsing animals by supporting
fencing programs for farmers and by funding continued research to provide
the forestry industry with effective and low cost alternatives,”
Mr McGlone said.
Further information:
Peter McGlone
Acting Director
Tasmanian Conservation Trust
03 6234 3552
0406 380 545
Karen Bevis
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
0429 015 110
Gemma Tillack
Climate Change and Forests Campaigner
The Wilderness Society Tasmania Inc
Mobile: 0427 057 643
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