Council suspends seagull poisoning

Seagulls at the Green Island landfill. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Seagulls at the Green Island landfill. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Seagulls picking over scraps at the Green Island landfill have been given a reprieve, after the Dunedin City Council suspended the use of a dangerous narcotic used to poison the birds.

Council water and waste services manager John Mackie confirmed the suspension yesterday, admitting he did not know the drug, alpha-chloralose, was to be used.

He said he only learned of the poison plan after details were published in the Otago Daily Times on August 11, and "immediately" instructed council staff and contractors to suspend the operation.

"This is one that I missed. It wasn't a method I would have approved of," he said yesterday.

Delta contractors, working for the council, were to use the drug - mixed with margarine and spread on cubes of bread - to poison black-backed seagulls at the landfill.

The birds were blamed for carrying off scraps and dropping them in the surrounding area, which encouraged the spread of vermin.

The drug induced hypothermia in the gulls, but other protected and "non-target birds" - such as red-billed and black-billed seagulls - were to be resuscitated by Delta staff by placing them in a warm crate beside a heater.

Dunedin woman Cath Smith questioned the practice in a letter to the ODT, citing several concerns including the council's possible prosecution for inadvertently killing protected birds "caught in the crossfire".

"Will the DCC be liable for prosecution under the Wildlife Act if protected birds are killed during the process?"

Mr Mackie said he "probably had a similar reaction" to Ms Smith, and was "yet to be convinced" the use of poison was the right option.

"It's not something I'm comfortable with. Rather than killing these birds, there's other ways of controlling them."

He could not say if the council could be liable if reasonable steps were taken to try to prevent the poisoning of protected species during a baiting operation, but said the council had "a duty of care".

There were health and safety risks for Delta contractors using the hazardous substance at the landfill, which was better left to specialists.

Council staff had been instructed to suspend the drug's use while a review was undertaken, which would include investigating alternatives for bird control, he said.

One option was to cover the landfill each day - as done elsewhere in New Zealand - to prevent birds reaching scraps, he said.

"That may have cost implications and we will weigh that up," he said.

He was not aware of any protected birds killed since the council was granted permission to use the drug last month.

Ms Smith told the ODT the council's response was "fantastic".

"I'm quite stunned that result has come about so quickly," she said.

 

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