Jun 7 2021
Bird experts are warning that endangered seed-eating birds and other wildlife could die in large numbers if plans to distribute mass quantities of toxic mouse poison go ahead.
An investigation into a recent mass galah death in New South Wales has confirmed that the birds died from eating grain laced with mouse poison.
BirdLife Australia, the Difficult Research Bird Group from the Australian National University and researchers at Edith Cowan University have renewed calls for regulators to prevent the distribution of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGAR) in mass quantities, as part of the NSW government’s mouse plague response.
A request by the NSW Government to distribute 10,000 litres of bromadiolone, a SGAR that is highly toxic to birds and other wildlife and causes internal bleeding, is currently being considered by the Australia Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
“Scenes of piles of dead galahs are heart-breaking, but even more concerning is the prospect that these poisons could push an endangered bird species closer to extinction,” BirdLife Australia Urban Birds Program Manager, Holly Parsons said.
Dr Robert Davis from Edith Cowan University says experts were already concerned about the impact of these chemicals on birds of prey, but this is the first reported case of a direct impact on seed-eating birds.
“These birds don’t feed on mice, they must have ingested the poison directly from laced grain,
“This could have implications for species that haven’t been considered before like the Superb Parrot, a threatened species with less than 8000 individuals left, which is known to feed on spilled grain.”
A PhD candidate studying Superb Parrots with the Difficult Bird Research Group at ANU, McLean Cobdan said the mouse plague overlaps with the distribution of superb parrots.
“Indiscriminate mouse control measures could put these threatened birds at risk if they accidentally eat poisoned grain,
“Deaths like that of the galahs are being documented even before a proposed mass roll out of bromadiolone has gone ahead. We have huge concerns about adding such an enormous amount of this poison will have on our wildlife,” Mr Cobdan said.
“We know that farmers and communities need support right now to control the plague, but we should be using first-generation rodenticides or alternative chemicals such as zinc phosphide, which doesn’t have the same impact to wildlife,” Dr Holly Parsons said.
Those concerned about the potential use of bromadiolone by the NSW government can join the BirdLife Australia petition at: https://www.actforbirds.org/ratpoison.
Source: https://www.actforbirds.org/