Hundreds of dead animals, birds and sea life washed up on a West Coast beach will also be leaving a legacy of thousands of poison laden time bombs for 140 kilometres on the way downriver from the mountains to the Sea according to Alan Simmons, leader of the NZ Outdoors Party.

"There are likely to be rotting and poisoned animal bodies all the way down the Buller River, ready to kill family pets, moreporks, trout, sea gulls and any other creature that eats the carcasses" said Alan. "For years we have warned DOC and the EPA about rotting carcases ending up in peoples water supplies or left decomposing on the hillsides, releasing their toxins into the rivers below for months after the drops.

We are told the poison and these toxic carcasses are"safe". Its a lie perpetuated by DOC so many times that some people start to believe it. This time people don't just smell a dead rat, there are hundreds of them for everyone to see" said Alan.

In 2017 deer carcases were found on a beach in Southland, poisoned possums washed on Dunedin beaches in 2017, and warning signs were recently put on Taranaki beaches after poisoned carcases were found scattered along the coastline. Thousands of deer died an agonising death on Molesworth Station and then left to rot releasing their poison loads into the Marlborough rivers and irrigating grape crops.

"How many more times do the people of NZ have to clean up DoC messes. it must stop. We need an immediate moratorium on these toxic bombing operations over our beautiful wild spaces and a public discussion about safer and less cruel alternatives for "clean Green NZ" said Alan.

Nelson lawyer Sue Grey, said she has had " a large number of people contacting her to to ask what can be done to stop the ongoing Ecocide and contamination of our rivers, beaches and marine area with deadly poison. The latest example involving many hundreds of dead rats, seabirds, fish and at least one calf on the West Coast beach is just one in a long series of incidents."

Sue Grey has written to the Attorney- General and Ministers of Conservation and Food Safety pointing out both serious legal and ethical questions over their ongoing poison policies, following the recent Supreme Court "shark cage diving" case which interprets the Wildlife Act to include creating significant risk of harm for wildlife. DoC's poison operations are known to kill kea, whio, kiwi and an array of other wildlife.

Sue Grey also called for a moratorium on all aerial use of poison due to the resulting Ecocide. "Some of the public comments by DoC staff raise questions as to whether they appreciate the responsibilities they have when using such deadly poisons. They need to respect the law." She said.

"The public has lost confidence in DoC and Ospri and the way deadly poison is spread like confetti over so much of New Zealand. This time the evidence of harm is blatant. DoCs own research shows poison creates rat plagues, kills endangered wildlife and contaminates water, land and the coastal marine areas.
Conservation strategies need an urgent review to better align them with the law and to re-build social licence."

The Outdoors Party will seek to reign in DoCs unwinnable war on nature" said Alan Simmons.

© Scoop Media