Rat poison killing birds of prey

Mornington Peninsula resident and marine researcher Kent Stannard has been walking the back beach track daily at Blairgowrie for as long as he can remember. Late last year a dead owl stopped him in his tracks. “I couldn’t make it out in the distance,” Kent said. “I walked up closer and saw it was a dead owl, a beautiful barn owl, and alongside it was a dead rat. I put two and two together and thought we’ve got an issue here.”

Kent was right. When he posted a photo of the dead owl on social media, other residents replied they too had found dead birds of prey in the area.

On advice from Melbourne Zoo, Kent took the dead owl and rat to Healesville Sanctuary, where he learnt about a national issue that was the most likely explanation for the owl’s death. “The vet said, ‘I’m almost 100 per cent sure that this animal has been impacted by secondgeneration rodenticides’.”

Second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides are extremely potent poisons that can be lethal in a single feeding, though it takes days for rodents to die after ingesting the poison. The threat SGARs pose to other animals such as birds, native mammals, native reptiles and domestic pets is secondary poisoning. The general sale of SGARs is restricted in Canada, the US and the EU, but they are available in Australia in hardware stores and supermarkets.

Holly Parsons, an urban bird program manager for Birdlife Australia, has been working on Act for Birds, a campaign to raise awareness about this issue and to encourage action. Birdlife Australia wants people to sign its petition regarding the general sale of SGARs and to encourage their councils to phase the poisons out. “The feedback we get when doing advocacy work is that people don’t understand the potency of what they’re buying,” Holly said. “SGARs are marketed as being fast and effective. People assume that if they’re buying it off the shelf, it must be safe. The average homeowner doesn’t need to be using these poisons. There are a huge range of alternatives out there that can be used that carry much less risk.”

Safe alternatives include first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides – or FGARs – live traps, and non-toxic lures. FGARs are less potent than SGARs, which means the rodent needs to eat several consecutive doses for it to be lethal. Secondary poisoning is reduced with FGARs because they break down in rodents more quickly than SGARs.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority regulates the sale and use rodenticides and is currently reviewing the potential risks associated with the use of these products. The review will consider whether labels carry adequate instructions to protect the health and safety of people, animals and the environment.

“The dead owl and rat show our disconnection and lack of respect for the natural world,” Kent said. “It’s about instant gratification. People just want to fix the problem in front of them and don’t care about the consequences around it.”

For a list of rodent controls to buy and those to avoid, and to sign the Act for Birds petition, go to https://www. actforbirds.org/ratpoison