Launching was the last act of something that had been worrying me for a long time; New Zealand's extraordinary protection of its rare and endangered species, by poisoning them! Yes, you got it, poisoning with one of the world's most deadly and cruel poisons, 1080!
As I go on, and learn to drive a blog spot, there will be pictures, and other information to help people fight this evil that New Zealands conservators put upon the land.
You're right on the money with this book! Great work.
ReplyDeleteJust read it. Feeling both angry and "gutted." I "just knew" that 1080, the war on possums, and year-round open-slather on deer shooting were wrong, but you've done the research to back it up. Thank you for producing such an important piece of work. Wish I could afford to buy 100 copies and send them to politicians, media, etc.
ReplyDeletePS I heard a possum the other night--first one I've heard in a couple of years. Also, earlier this year there was a dead deer in the stream by our house. I didn't investigate (it's down a steep bank) but it seemed odd that it didn't appear to rot out, and it was there for a couple of weeks. At the time, I assumed it was probably hunter-wounded; now I suspect 1080 which was dropped on the hills hereabouts some time ago. Eventually the deer was swept away downstream after heavy rain. This is so wrong on so many levels.
I'm inspired to blog...have mentioned your book in my first blogs. See susan-thrasher@blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteThe best book on 1080 poisoning so far. Great work Bill.
ReplyDeleteBill's book is a very important contribution that describes how New Zealand became the world's greatest user (and abuser) of a World War II synthetic weapon on mass destuction - sodium fluoroacetate [Compound 1080]. The quantities that NZ government agencies uses every year are obscene.
ReplyDeleteThis biocide will be banned in New Zealand not just because it is such a risk-prone chemical to use on a landscape scale but because it will be shown to worsen the biodiversity losses that DoC claims it improves!
Just as Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' was a turning point in the madness of the organochlorine intoxication of ecosystems globally, this book should be the basis of shaking the NZ policy-makers out of their 60-year complacency in the use of 1080 as an ecological biocide. Thank you Bill.