Beyond 1080

Despite what the government would have you believe about the necessity of dumping a highly dangerous toxin from the sky, effective and safe alternatives to the poisonous war on possums are quietly springing up across the country.

Rebecca Reider investigates.

We knew there must be some better way than having 1080 poison dropped out of helicopters all over our community. In their endless quest to kill possums, the Animal Health Board dropped 1080-laced baits over 18,000 ha here in Golden Bay this past winter: in our forests, around rural properties, in the streams that supply our drinking water. If angry letters to the editor in the local paper are any indication, it riled up our community more than any other recent issue.

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