More 1080 is needed to save our native birds

New Zealand’s native birds are heading for extinction, and if we want to save them, we must use the controversial poison 1080 on a much larger scale, says the country’s senior environmental adviser.

By Rebecca Macfie In Commentary

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18th June, 2011

Mag Features

First, a roll-call of the nearly extinct: already gone from the wild on our three main islands are the kakapo, little spotted kiwi, hihi and the North and South Island saddlebacks. Of those species that remain, many are endangered or in a state of decline: the kokako, blue duck, mohua, kaka, orange-fronted parakeet, North Island brown kiwi, great spotted kiwi, yellow-crowned parakeet, rifleman, longtailed cuckoo, kereru. “Eighty per cent of our remaining forest birds have either some national conservation concern status, or are declining,” says Landcare Research ecologist John Innes. He ...

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