Poisoning of Wallabies and Thar

Forest and Bird, Issue 142, 1 November 1961, Page 13

Poisoning of Wallabies and Thar

Reference has been made in the daily papers to the operations of the Departments of State in their efforts to control wallabies and thar. The Forest Service has kindly supplied to us a statement covering recent operations against these animals, and for the information of our members these are published hereunder. Wallaby control by poisoning. After several winter shooting campaigns by Government hunters (accounting for some 70,000 wallabies) followed by trials of various baits with the object of poisoning these animals, the Rabbit Act was amended in 1959 to allow rabbit boards to carry on with the work. The Forest and Bird Protection Society was, at the time of the trials mentioned, furnished with data on the baits and their acceptance or otherwise by native birds. The evidence then produced, which led to the Society’s accepting the principle of this method of control, has, in the light of subsequent use of the method, proved correct. Many thousands of acres of country have now been treated and many thousands of wallabies destroyed. A very close watch has been maintained on the possible effect on native or other bird life and there has been no evidence of native birds being affected at all. The latest information on this project is that the wallaby population has been virtually exterminated, and no major poisoning work will be necessary for probably the next twenty years. One man is to continue inspection and patrols with the object of locating any surviving wallaby colonies, which if found could then be dealt with. Thar poisoning. A further indication of the success of poisoning without danger to bird life is the result of the use of 1080 with carrot bait on thar in the Glentanner region. A concentration of some 1,000 animals was destroyed in this trial, representing approximately 90 per cent, of the total animals in the area prior to the application of the bait. In this case too, although few native birds were present in the area, there was no. sign of any bird life being affected by the poison.