Pest poison posing problems on Kawau Island

The pest free Kawau Island programme aims to eradicate wallabies, possums, rats and stoats and is using a variety of ground-based methods to achieve this, including targeted toxins. Kawau Island resident Pepper Taylor has raised concerns with Auckland Council that its pest-free Kawau team is poisoning wallabies, rodents and possums inhumanely – and that it’s being done on her property without permission. Taylor says one of the toxins being used in bait and bait stations is a slow-acting anticoagulant called brodifacoum. “It depletes vitamin K, which causes impaired blood clotting in the animal...