This begs the question.
Would the poison pellets used on Campbell
Is. also poison native mammals &/or birds? Although the BBC news report
cited by Laurie doesn't mention the name of the poison used, an article at
the same news site refers to a spill of rat poison pellets into New Zealand
coastal waters on May 24th with potential environmental problems. That
poison was brodifacoum, available here as Talon. This is an anticoagulant,
even WA mammals would be susceptible to it. (It being completely different
to 1080.)
Brodifacoum is "very highly toxic to mammals
and birds.It is extremely dangerous to birds through secondary exposure,
especially raptors feeding on poisoned rats and mice" (American Bird
Conservancy). Also very toxic to marine life.
How did skuas and other pelagic raptors fare
on Campbell Is? Maybe brodifacoum wasn't the poison used there.
Which of Australia major seabird islands have
native mammals?
Cheers
Michael
Scanned by PeNiCillin http://safe-t-net.pnc.com.au/
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to
|
