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The worst place on Earth to be a predatory mammal

Dragonfly

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New Zealand'''s plan to rid the country of predators | CNN Travel

Now as New Zealand wrestles with what people to let in, most are united in what kinds of wild animals they want out.The government's answer: All of them. Everything with teeth instead of a beak, fur instead of feathers.

Trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube.

Here's what I question the most:

Each year, government helicopters fly across gorgeous landscapes, spreading tons of cereal bait or carrot chunks laced with 1080, a toxin so deadly, it's banned in many countries.

How does one keep "tons of deadly toxins" from getting into water and other natural resources?

Seems like there's a whole lot that could come back to haunt those in support of this effort.
 
What predators eat cereal and/or carrots?
 
Yeesh, Gads, that sounds SO UNLIKE what I always thought NZ's values to be.
I mean, I thought New Zealand supported a 100% commitment to unspoiled and untouched wild spaces with undisturbed flora and fauna, an ancient paradise thrust out of a new earth's crust, an almost prehistoric wonderland.
I'm almost SURE that's what NZ's values USED to be all about, but clearly it looks and sounds like there's been some radical changes in recent years.
I do not recognize these new ideas as being good for New Zealand at all, and at first and last glance, these ideas seem stupid, shortsighted, and a sure fire way of permanently damaging their ecology.
 
That sure sounds bad. I am hoping there is some broader conservationist angle to this that I am not seeing.
 
rats, mice, small rodents....but I would also think birds, insects, reptiles...
seems that the benefits of applying sodium fluoroacetate (1080) outweigh the disadvantages in that birds, insects and reptiles are not as much affected if the baiting is done right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_fluoroacetate#Birds

It's a helluva project though, considering the size of the area (country).

There's a bit more background on the whole campaign here:

https://www.nature.com/news/behind-new-zealand-s-wild-plan-to-purge-all-pests-1.21272

As can be seen, it isn't all as mindless as the tenor of the CNN articles suggests (i.e. "let's poison everything and nature can let the chips fall where they may").
 
RIP Mammals. Lots of interesting creatures in AU.
 
I wonder when the New Zealand Government will start poisoning the most environmentally disruptive foreign organism of all - Human beings? Turning back the clock of natural history is hard and fraught with moral peril.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.
 
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