Thread: Time to re-introduce a paying for deer/goat tail scheme?

Originally Posted by woods223

Works both ways bud. I've quickly read through the DOC Review you provided link to. it seems you may have formed an opinion while possibly not correctly interpreting what's printed.
Two examples in the literature.
Isotope testing of lead within blood, feathers, tissue, and bones from live and dead birds is a promising option to identify the primary sources of lead among kea (Church et al. 2006). This technique requires minimal equipment to collect, samples have a long shelf life, and it can provide retrospective data from stored material to build an understanding of lead exposure history (Finkelstein et al. 2012).
Analysis to identify the primary sources of lead toxicity in kea using isotopes has not been conducted for kea. However, a recently established research collaboration between DOC, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu (TRONT), Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT), South Island Wildlife Hospital, University of Melbourne, and University of California, Santa Cruz is exploring whether this is a viable option.
While I acknowledge and accept the fact that Kea can and do suffer from lead poisoning I must also point out that the use of 1080 should also carry a burdon of blame for their demise in some areas. My reasoning for this is that there used to be a population of Kea resident on Mt. Patriarch in Marlborough. After the application of 1080 on the southern face of this area a number of years ago I havn't heard of a single sighting of any of this species. Please note that I am a regular hunter in this area, at least 10 times/year, and have been for approx. 40 years.

That's a shame about kea on Mt Patriarch, but Id suggest that they were declining from predation well before 1080 was used in the area. There are numerous other areas that haven't been 1080'd that also no longer have kea. Additionally, 1080 is proven to be an effective tool for improving kea nesting success. Sure, some will die but more will survive.
Unfortunately there is a strong correlation between kea that are fed being more likely to die from 1080, hence the strong push with messaging of "a fed kea is a dead kea".
This is also true for kea getting run over on roads, as often occurs in AP Village and on the Milford Road. IMO it's the tour bus operators who are predominately feeding the kea in our region (Monkey Creek for example). The kea seem to arrive at approximately (exactly) the same time as the busses do every day.

https://www.keaconservation.co.nz/pe...ion-statement/