Illegal Cyanide Baits Put Lives at Risk; Council

A trail of possum-killing cyanide poison laid illegally along an approximately two-kilometre long stretch of Kaipara forest road could have potentially put lives a risk, Northland Regional Council experts say.

James Mitchell, the Northland Regional Council’s Hazardous Substances Specialist, says tablespoon-sized blobs of bright blue cyanide paste mix were left at roughly 20-metre intervals in the middle of the ‘Avoca North’ forest road in the Tangowahine area.

Mr Mitchell says the Council was alerted to the incident in the large, privately-owned exotic forest recently by a concerned member of the public who had permission to be in the area.

Council staff visited the area this week, cleaning up 27 blobs of illegally-laid cyanide – in this case a bright blue mix with the consistency of toothpaste - along a several hundred metre stretch of the road.

However, Mr Mitchell says there had been much more cyanide along a roughly 2km long stretch of the same road, probably laid about the same time late last week, but which had been too degraded by rain to be recovered.

“It appears a reasonable number of baits have also been taken by possums and although the person responsible appears to have done a sweep of the area and collected many of them, about half a dozen carcasses remained in the area when we visited.”

Mr Mitchell suspects the possums are being targeted for their fur, which is currently fetching good prices.

He says fortunately, the forest area where the bait was laid is some distance away from the nearest home and as a result unsupervised children are unlikely to have stumbled across it.

“However, the fact remains that laying lethal poison like this is both illegal and grossly irresponsible and there was potential for someone to have been hurt or even killed.”

Mr Mitchell says legally cyanide can only be laid by someone holding a Controlled Substance Licence and who had undergone the necessary training in its use.

It cannot be laid anywhere unless a landowner has given their permission, warning signs are erected and neighbours and other land users advised.

Mr Mitchell says it will be up to the company which owns the forest as to whether it wishes to lay a formal complaint over the incident with police.

In the meantime, the Regional Council is urging Northlanders to be very aware of their surroundings when in forest or bush areas and report any suspicious blue or green blobs of paste they encounter to the Council’s 24/7 Environmental Hotline 0800 504 639.

“If they do come across something they suspect is cyanide, people should stay well away from it and not touch it under any circumstances. It’s also vitally important to keep a close eye on children and pets.”

Mr Mitchell says most cyanide users are extremely responsible and the Kaipara incident was one of the more unusual he had come across during his time with the Council.

ENDS

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