❓ A parliamentary question regarding the Department of Environment Regulation's use of sodium fluoroacetate (1080) for controlling introduced animal species, and the subsequent answer detailing usage, costs, and impacts on non-target species.
AnsweredQoN 412Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT
OF ENVIRONMENT REGULATION — SODIUM FLUOROACETATE
412. Hon RICK MAZZA to the minister representing the
Minister for Environment:
I refer to the Department of Environment Regulation practice
of using sodium fluoroacetate, commonly known as 1080, to control introduced
animal species in Western Australia's native forests.
(1) (a) What quantity of sodium
fluoroacetate is dispersed annually by the agency?
(b) What is the cost of the
distribution of that quantity?
(2) (a) What is the impact on
animals other than the targeted species?
(b) What research has been conducted
into secondary poisoning of non-targeted species?
OF ENVIRONMENT REGULATION — SODIUM FLUOROACETATE
412. Hon RICK MAZZA to the minister representing the
Minister for Environment:
I refer to the Department of Environment Regulation practice
of using sodium fluoroacetate, commonly known as 1080, to control introduced
animal species in Western Australia's native forests.
(1) (a) What quantity of sodium
fluoroacetate is dispersed annually by the agency?
(b) What is the cost of the
distribution of that quantity?
(2) (a) What is the impact on
animals other than the targeted species?
(b) What research has been conducted
into secondary poisoning of non-targeted species?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice
of this question.
(1) (a) The
Department of Parks and Wildlife's western shield program used more
than 600 000 fox baits and 300 000 feral cat baits on 3.9 million hectares of
conservation reserves and state forest to recover threatened fauna species.
(b) The
Department of Parks and Wildlife's western shield program expended $797
000 in 2012–13 on the aerial distribution of fox baits. This amount
does not include the cost of bait production or the costs of on-ground baiting
operations, which are undertaken locally and the expenditure for which is not
available at short notice. The precise dollar figures for the distribution of
feral cat baits were also not able to be compiled within the time available for
responding to this question.
(2) (a) Western
Australian native wildlife has a very high natural tolerance to 1080 poison, as
the poison pea plants that naturally occur in the wild contain an almost
identical chemical toxin. This natural tolerance has been well established by
scientific research and gives Western Australia a natural advantage in the use
of 1080 that is not replicated across parts of eastern Australia.
The DPAW's feral predator
baiting programs are essential for the recovery and maintenance of many native
animal species that would otherwise be extinct or near extinct in the wild,
including the state's mammal emblem, the numbat. These programs are
undertaken following state and national requirements, including the Western
Australian Department of Health's ''Code of Practice for the
Safe Use and Management of 1080 in Western Australia'' and the
requirements of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
The use of 1080 baiting under these strict requirements ensures acceptably
minimal levels of non-target impact in the achievement of essential native
species conservation.
(b) The
secondary poisoning of non-target species has been the subject of specific
research, including 1996 research by the then Department of Conservation and
Land Management—Algar and Kinnear, 1996—which investigated the
secondary poisoning of foxes following the use of 1080 poison to control
rabbits.
of this question.
(1) (a) The
Department of Parks and Wildlife's western shield program used more
than 600 000 fox baits and 300 000 feral cat baits on 3.9 million hectares of
conservation reserves and state forest to recover threatened fauna species.
(b) The
Department of Parks and Wildlife's western shield program expended $797
000 in 2012–13 on the aerial distribution of fox baits. This amount
does not include the cost of bait production or the costs of on-ground baiting
operations, which are undertaken locally and the expenditure for which is not
available at short notice. The precise dollar figures for the distribution of
feral cat baits were also not able to be compiled within the time available for
responding to this question.
(2) (a) Western
Australian native wildlife has a very high natural tolerance to 1080 poison, as
the poison pea plants that naturally occur in the wild contain an almost
identical chemical toxin. This natural tolerance has been well established by
scientific research and gives Western Australia a natural advantage in the use
of 1080 that is not replicated across parts of eastern Australia.
The DPAW's feral predator
baiting programs are essential for the recovery and maintenance of many native
animal species that would otherwise be extinct or near extinct in the wild,
including the state's mammal emblem, the numbat. These programs are
undertaken following state and national requirements, including the Western
Australian Department of Health's ''Code of Practice for the
Safe Use and Management of 1080 in Western Australia'' and the
requirements of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
The use of 1080 baiting under these strict requirements ensures acceptably
minimal levels of non-target impact in the achievement of essential native
species conservation.
(b) The
secondary poisoning of non-target species has been the subject of specific
research, including 1996 research by the then Department of Conservation and
Land Management—Algar and Kinnear, 1996—which investigated the
secondary poisoning of foxes following the use of 1080 poison to control
rabbits.
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