United Future
Since: Aug 2007
Posts: 314

Dunne disappointed with Central North Island 1080 drop

Posted in Discussion Forum at 04:25PM, 14 Apr 2011 ∞ Permalink

“It is disappointing to learn of an aerial 1080 drop near Lake Otamangakau in the Central North Island just a month out from duck shooting season”, said UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne.
”Lake Otamangakau is world famous for producing trophy trout and is also a popular destination for game bird hunters.”
“It is sad that this operation has been carried out just before the duck shooting season begins next month”, said Mr Dunne.” It is irresponsible and unfair to all the hunters who prize this resource.”
“Duck shooters often rely heavily on dogs to collect their birds and as we know 1080 is particularly lethal to dogs.”
A large section around the northern arms of Lake Otamangakau has been subjected to aerial 1080 which has angered anglers and hunters who travel to the lake for its world famous fishing and game bird shooting. The lake was used as one of the venues when New Zealand hosted the 2008 World Fly Fishing championships... Read the full text of this article.

Al Varney
Since: Apr 2011
Posts: 5

Posted at 04:25PM, 14 Apr 2011 ∞ Permalink

Mr Dunne is wrong to claim that “We are the only country in the world that permits 1080 to be used in such an indiscriminate way as aerial application,”

Despite tighter restrictions on its use, aerial application is still used in Australia to control a range of pests including feral dogs, foxes and rabbits. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/pesticides/1080PCOfactsheet.htm

As Mr Dunne will be aware, the reason why this particular toxin is so widely used in New Zealand is because we only have two native land mammals. Using appropriate screening techniques and specific formulations, conservationists are able to specifically target pest mammals with minimal impact on our native wildlife.

Constant monitoring has shown that the benefits of the use of 1080 for mammalian pest control far outweigh the risks to native wildlife. Without protection nine out of 10 North Island brown kiwi chicks born in the wild will not survive to six months old. In Tongariro Forest Park, the summer after an aerial 1080 operation, chick survival rose to almost 70%. There are countless other examples.

From this media release, I can only conclude that Mr Dunne is less interested in looking after national taonga than his own interests.

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