1080 operation starts quietly

BARRY HARCOURT/The Southland Times

OBSERVATION: Police officers watch helicopters lift hoppers of non-toxic cereal bait as part of a 1080 poison drop in the Waitutu Forest yesterday.

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The first stage of a large-scale 1080 poison drop in the Waitutu Forest began yesterday but without any protesting activity seen at previous operations throughout the country.

While a 1080 opposition group had told the Department of Conservation it would try to stop the operation, there was still a strong security presence near the loading zone at Thicket Burn in the Lillburn Valley, near Lake Hauroko, with police officers and security staff manning a roadblock and patrolling the area.

No problems were reported but the security presence would remain today and during the next drop.

DOC is spending about $550,000 to drop 50 tonnes of 1080-laced toxic baits over 25,000ha of the Waitutu Forest, in the southeast corner of Fiordland National Park.

Low cloud delayed the first part of the operation until noon yesterday, when three helicopters using advanced GPS systems began dropping 25 tonnes of non-toxic pre-feed cinnamon-flavoured cereal bait designed to get possums used to a new food

That section of the operation will continue today and depending on weather conditions, green-coloured toxic bait would be dropped next week at a rate of 2kg/ha.

Department of Conservation area manager Dave Taylor said staff had spent three years preparing for the aerial drop, including going through the resource consent process.

About 23 DOC staff were involved at the loading zone yesterday, along with four police officers, four security staff, three pilots and a manager.

DOC was adamant dropping 1080 from the air was the best option for possum control in the forest, Mr Taylor said.

Using ground-based contractors would take longer, be less effective and end up costing up to 40 per cent more.

"We're aware some people don't like it but we ask them to get informed and understand the big picture of what's going on."

DOC programme manager community relations Leanne Keenan said the female kaka population in the forest had been declining because possums were attacking nesting birds, killing them and their eggs, she said.

"We're at the point where we can let it go and lose special and amazing things that make it great for hunting, fishing and walking or we can do something about it. We can use 1080 to heal it," Ms Kennan said.

- © Fairfax NZ News