The release of an anonymous lab report that found massive 1080 concentrations prompts Dave Hansford to ask: is history repeating itself? The last week has seen a great deal of discussion about claims made by the anti-1080 front group, Flora and Fauna Aotearoa (F&F), in relation to the deaths of hundreds of rats and other … Read more
The anti-1080 lobby last week released ‘lab tests’ purporting to find the poison in the vermin that washed up in Westport. But do their claims stand up to scrutiny, asks Dave Hansford. For the anti-1080 movement, it was supposed to be the turning of a rather putrid tide. On November 15, Flora and Fauna of … Read more
The anti-1080 lobby has made a martyr out of kea, but that ignores another salient fact: kea survival in large part depends on pest control. Dave Hansford explores on the challenge to balance pest control with conservation. In April this year, Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) announced that two kea had died after eating 1080 baits … Read more
The threats over DOC use of the anti-predator poison reveal a crack opening up between urban perception and rural values. We need to grasp its seismic nature, before somebody gets hurt, writes Dave Hansford In October, somebody let a herd of sika deer into north Taranaki forest. Then they sent the Department of Conservation a … Read more
Global warming is a fact, it’s caused by humans, and it’s going to change our world. Oh, and one more truth: you may never be able to convince your libertarian, climate change-denying uncle otherwise. Dave Hansford explores the psychology of denial. The annals of inaction — the long, sorry history of human inertia — are … Read more