Thread: Molesworth 1080 drop delayed

Wow, amazingly the 1080 killed lots of deer - Who'd have thought it?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12108176

Poison drops on New Zealand's largest farm have been suspended after scores of red deer died in a 1080 operation targeting possum.

Deer hunters self-funded an aerial survey of the historic 180,000-hectare Molesworth Station in the South Island after a 1080 (monosodium fluoroacetate) drop in October last year by TBFree NZ was feared to have unintentionally wiped out as many as 345 red deer.

The final number of carcasses spotted lying on the vast farmland is yet to be publicly-released, with the Marlborough branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) saying its scientists are still writing their comprehensive report.

Meanwhile, Ospri, the government-backed company, formerly the Animal Health Board, which is fighting to eradicate tuberculosis (TB), has deferred any further drops on Molesworth Station "until at least next year".

"The deferment was decided after the initial possum control operation [in] 2017 killed more deer than expected, meaning future operations may need to use deer repellent over a wide area," an Ospri spokesman told the Herald.

Ospri say they are now undertaking further research and testing into alternative repellents, which could also prove "significantly more cost effective".

NZDA Marlborough branch committee member Wayne Smith welcomed the move.

"We are pleased that further 1080 drops have been deferred," he said.

"Hopefully the new deer repellent options will be effective as well and in future we see a large reduction in by-kill from these operations."

The Department of Conservation (DoC), which owns the station and leases it to Landcorp Farming Ltd, gives Ospri permission to run pest control operations on public conservation land.

Ospri's TBfree nine-year programme is designed to eradicate bovine tuberculosis from Molesworth, which has a long history with TB infection in its cattle herd and wildlife, dating back to the early 1960s.

Eight helicopters using GPS dropped toxic bait at 2kg/ha on a 61,200ha area late last October after "significant public and community engagement".

"The justification for possum control was compelling and also carried significant conservation benefits," an Ospri spokesman said at the time.

"Ospri recognises that there is always a risk of deer by-kill as a result of 1080 application for pest control and is committed to working with hunting groups to minimise the impacts on these populations through targeted use of deer repellent."

Offers by local hunters to shoot as many deer as possible before the 1080 drop were not taken up by DoC, the Herald was told.

Experienced helicopter pilot Bill Hales, who has 40 years' experience as a wild animal recovery operator (WARO), was disappointed by a "crying shame of a wasted resource".

"Why not let us guys in there for three months before you have a poison drop and harvest the product? Why waste the resource?" he said.

Animal rights groups are opposed to the use of 1080.

Ospri said that until an alternative to 1080 is found, it remains "the best tool in the toolbox for controlling the introduced predators that transmit TB between wildlife and livestock".

Does anyone know of anyone spending on research and testing of alternative poisons? Or are they waiting for it to drop from the proverbial sky?

And its not just animal rights groups that are opposed to 1080.

Shit I'm sounding like my anti mates

No Gibo your just moving over from the dark side Praise the Lord!

A small win, but I fear the postponement is going to be short lived. The telling four words for me - delayed while they find a repellent that is “far more cost effective”. So OSPRI have reacted to the public response and bad press from the last drop, so now will appease the general public and press by using deer repellent - yeah right!! Why did they not use it in the first drop ?? Why don’t they use what’s available? Nah they are going to add saw dust or any cheap shit they can find and claim it’s “deer repellent” then they can continue on with impunity with the purple rain.

I hope the NZDA gets their report out sooner than later - while this issue has traction and visibility

Originally Posted by chainsaw

A small win, but I fear the postponement is going to be short lived. The telling four words for me - delayed while they find a repellent that is “far more cost effective”. So OSPRI have reacted to the public response and bad press from the last drop, so now will appease the general public and press by using deer repellent - yeah right!! Why did they not use it in the first drop ?? Why don’t they use what’s available? Nah they are going to add saw dust or any cheap shit they can find and claim it’s “deer repellent” then they can continue on with impunity with the purple rain.

I hope the NZDA gets their report out sooner than later - while this issue has traction and visibility

Messaging over the problem.

Sent from my TA-1024 using Tapatalk

"Unintentional". Bahaha what a joke, spat my coffee out. Wankers.

Its not to too late to support the Marlborough NZDA fund their research. They have a "give a little" page.

And yes, there is a lot of work going on to try to find a better and more cost effective repellent. At present the application of the repellent onto the baits is very labour intensive.

I'm pleased that there are now 2 operations "postponed" drops because of by kill risks. Marlborough and the ZIP Perth.

Hardly significant, but at least something.

Did I just read, "Ospri is committed to working with hunting groups to minimise the impacts......"
Totally misleading statement and basically a load of crap in the case of molesworth. Everyone involved in the operation from the farm manager to the helicopter pilots would have known of the deer numbers but the 2017 operation still proceeded. Now there seems to be some claims that the numbers of deer killed is somehow a surprise. BS
Marlborough NZDA are doing a great job and time will tell whether any significant changes are made to future aerial drops on Molesworth, but I suspect that the politics of DOC bureaucracy will continue to roll on.

Thanks for posting that. Molesworth truly is an amazing place to hunt Reds.
I was gobsmacked the first time hunting there and seeing a Mob of a stag and hinds literally 3 km from anything that resembled cover.
Sorry about the picture quality.
They blend in pretty well in that tussock too.

[QUOTE=Tahr;736468]Its not to too late to support the Marlborough NZDA fund their research. They have a "give a little"

Thanks @Tahr would be happy to send thru a donation but the Give a Little page says “closed” ?

[QUOTE=chainsaw;736477]

Originally Posted by Tahr

Its not to too late to support the Marlborough NZDA fund their research. They have a "give a little"

Thanks @Tahr would be happy to send thru a donation but the Give a Little page says “closed” ?

Closed because it's all wrapped up & done. The Marlborough NZDA have the results, they have just chosen not to report their findings yet and use the excuse as above.

One comment from Marlborough NZDA on the FB page caught my eye.
They said that as this was not an academic study, it would NOT be peer reviewed.
Does this fact alone not leave it wide open to being put straight in the trash bin by those that Ospr etc ?

I find this bit very misleading

"1080 (monosodium fluoroacetate) drop in October last year by TBFree NZ was feared to have unintentionally wiped out as many as 345 red deer."

My understanding is,

That number only comes from the approx 10% (6000ha) they surveyed of the 60,000ha that had 1080 applied to it.

So the total number of deer killed is most likely in the thousands.....

This survey was undertaken to be as scientific as possible so it is beyond reproach & some sound results can come from this tragedy.

The Nelson branch of the NZDA provided $5K to the survey

The least we could do for of neighbors & the fact that plenty of our members have hunted there for years

If you want to get a handle on the more correct number, the local helicopter operators who flew the post poison survey are the one to talk to.
Lets just say 345 is a "conservative number", or so I'm told.

I dont know what the problem is. The Minister did indicate that everything was to be wiped out Whats a few hundred deer. were still employed.