Thread: 1080 in Tararuas - When is safe?

Thrilled to see level 3 allowing DoC land hunting but given the numerous 1080 drops through my local (eastern Tararuas walking in from Waiohine gorge) I was curious if it was even worth going? Deer unsafe to eat at this stage? First drop was listed as 28 June but not sure if they’ve finished or how long it’s generally deemed unsafe to take deer from the area after a drop?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If you have a dog no go not worth the risk. If you have had a fair amount of rain since the drop that was 2 months ago I think any deer still wandering around should be OK. This is just my opinion based on not much really. Think it was 3 months not to take meat but now its 6 months. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will give you a more informed answer.

I wait up to 12 months to take a dog in. Have seen dogs killed at eight months post drop. Not mine, I am really cautious. From memory the MPI guidelines for meat recovery in a 1080'd area is four months. That is for animals that have received a sub lethal dose and lived on. You will be able to confirm via their website. Hope this helps.

its always worth going..... we would always go in with a different mindset .... treat it as a training exercise hone the stalking skills see what the deer are up to for future reference if theres a deer standing in the middle of the track frothing at the mouth and shaking put it out of its misery ....take photos

Hiawatha is correct. possum carcasses stay toxic through winter, until the warmer months. The smallest residue is toxic to dogs

If no dogs, go for it.
I'd be happy to eat venison I got

Anything standing after four months will be ok , give it six months and it will be safe. Dogs different story a dog only needs 0.06 mg/per kg for a lethal dose.
In comparison a possum needs about 0.3mg/kg for a lethal dose.
1080 in sub lethal doses passes through the body in 24/48 hours and is excreted through the urine.
We were taught that it would be impossible to eat enough meat from an animal that died from 1080 and get a lethal dose in one sitting.

What is the target animal, what is the bait medium?

I have worked issuing 1080 in Australia, I believe it is a touchy subject in NZ.

In short don't take dogs in, the poison may still be viable in a dry meat bait if ingested. This has been proven.

It would take a lot to poison deer a lot to cause secondary poisoning to a person , but I don't know what the practice is over there. .

Originally Posted by CBH Australia

What is the target animal, what is the bait medium?

I have worked issuing 1080 in Australia, I believe it is a touchy subject in NZ.

In short don't take dogs in, the poison may still be viable in a dry meat bait if ingested. This has been proven.

It would take a lot to poison deer a lot to cause secondary poisoning to a person , but I don't know what the practice is over there. .

Possums, rats, ferrets, and stoats. Bait medium is usually cereal based. It certainly knocks the deer population, especially when no repellent is applied.


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Was told 30 years ago by a scientist at the old DSIR in Auckland that 1080 was present in the bone marrow of a animal for years after it's death from the poison. He did testing for the Auckland Regional Council and hated the use of it in the context this country was using it.

Not knowing the specifics or the rules it sounds a lot different to our approach.
Australia used grain for pigs but in a controlled enclosure. To minimise non target exposure.
Baiting may take place in an area grazed by livestock so prevent ING sheep and cattle from accessing poison grain is paramount. Deer would have difficulty accessing poison grain.

We have a lot of flat country, open country etc. Not how I envisage New Zealand.

Meat baits for Foxes and Dogs are a minimum weight and size with a specific dose. A Dingo/Dog bait would not be lethal to a pig, A deer would not eat the meat and the dose rate would be a small fraction of the dose required to kill the Deer.

I've never been told about 1080 staying in bone marrow. I was trained in preparation of 1080 and the issue to end-users maintaining a training currency and learning from experienced researchers.

Not saying it doesn't happen but that new to me. Being an acute poison death occurs within about 4 hours. 1080 breaks down by microbial action so "baits" break down in soil or the body of a dead animal break down the residual poison. I'm not sure how much enters the bone of lethal dose is ingested causing death within 4 hours. That said a meat bait undercover will retain nearly 100% toxicity for some time.

NZ are applying it in a different capacity so I can't comment, I would be interested to see what the process is there as the target species and application are all different.

Originally Posted by CBH Australia

I've never been told about 1080 staying in bone marrow. I was trained in preparation of 1080 and the issue to end-users maintaining a training currency and learning from experienced researchers.

This place is rife with hearsay and conjecture.
You’ll learn to sift through it on charged issues like 1080.

If you google it Lincoln Uni have a reference to 1080 staying in bone marrow for up to 200 and something days.