The bait drops are restricted to within park boundaries. Within those bounds there should be no mammals, save for humans who know better than to eat bait pellets, and perhaps the occasional muzzled dog ( with a permit ). There is a by-kill of native animals, but that pales in comparison to the amount that would be killed by unchecked predator growth. No human has been killed or harmed by DOC 1080 drops.
The main opponents to 1080 are hunters, nimbies and people that believe in chem-trails and threaten to poison milk formula.
Hunters I can empathize with to some degree, but in the end, they have a vested interest in preserving the populations of feral animals, not in the elimination of them.
Basically accurate here but "hunters" does cover a pretty diverse group of people with many different motivations. They include many who care very deeply about conservation and unfortunately also those who threaten to poison milk formula. I don't think you'll find many on either side that have any love for rats.
As said above, 1080 is the best choice we have but we should (and do) keep looking for better alternatives. It would be nice if we didn't have to greet visitors to our national parks with this all the time:
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/saving-our-environment/nativ...
The main opponents to 1080 are hunters, nimbies and people that believe in chem-trails and threaten to poison milk formula.
Hunters I can empathize with to some degree, but in the end, they have a vested interest in preserving the populations of feral animals, not in the elimination of them.