Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
For those favoring death as an environmental management tool, 1080 offers the
attribute that it is non-selective. It is toxic to all native Tasmanian fauna (Rammell
and Fleming
1978
). It has been applied in Tasmania continuously as baits since
1952 (DPIPWE
2009
). The
modus operandi
has been 'bait-and-switch'. Animals
are induced, non selectively, to a site by free feeds, usually carrots for browsing and
grazing animals; once they are habituated to this, the next free feed is laced with
1080 poison (Statham
2001
).
What is killed, and in what numbers is unknown and probably unknowable. Le
Mar and McArthur (
2000
) found that “animal carcasses are extremely difficult to
locate following a poisoning operation”. They report that “animals sought shelter
after consuming poisoned bait” and that “seventy-five percent of carcasses were
found inside shelters (i.e. inside windrows, hollow logs, dens or under fallen
vegetation)”. They reported that of 15 killed animals that they studied, “three car-
casses were not found but recovered (radio) collars showed carnivores' teeth marks,
suggesting that Tasmanian devils (
Sarcophilus harrisii
) or spotted-tailed quolls
(
Dasyurus maculatus
) had moved and/or consumed them”.
Tasmanian devils, an endemic species, are the eco-clean-up scavengers of
Tasmania. Devils are carnivores like the thylacine, but their feast is of carrion, the
dead and the dying, this includes roadkill and will also include, of necessity, victims
of 1080 poisoning.
This diet opens Tasmanian devils to the potential to ingest multiple sub-lethal
doses of 1080 - and such free meals have been an aspect of the Tasmanian landscape
continuously for nearly six decades. Just how this second-hand 1080 has impacted
the devils is unknown. But there are some disturbing facts.
Devils
The Tasmanian devil is the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial. As a
top level predator it relies on the integrity of the whole of the food chain. A problem
somewhere in that food chain can manifest as a problem in the devil population.
Devils are known to eat 1080 poisoned animals (le Mar and McArthur
2000
;
Statham
2001
). The Tasmanian Government has distributed a quantity of 1080
sufficient to exterminate the devil population many times over, however the appli-
cation of 1080 in Tasmania has mostly been applied to carrot as bait for browsing
animals. It is used to a smaller degree, and more recently, on meat baits as a fox
poison. The impact of serial sublethal doses of 1080 on Tasmanian vertebrates and
invertebrates is unknown.
The devil has a propensity for eating dead animals and as a consequence is at
serious risk of ingesting 1080 from that source, in serial sublethal doses (Statham
2001
). These sublethal doses can be expected to cause cancer, tumours, and develop-
mental disorders, particularly as a consequence of ingesting the product contami-
nant, sodium fluoride.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search