Napier group joins nationwide 1080 protest

Karl Jager speaking at the Stop the Drop Napier anti 1080 march. Photo / Warren Buckland

Napier was one of many regions in New Zealand where protesters came together against the use of 1080 at the weekend.

The group of 30 wants to ban the poison used to kill pests, as the affect it has on the environment and animals in the bush are huge.

Campaigner Karl Jager said: "New Zealand and Australia use 90 per cent of the production of 1080, everywhere else has stopped or restricted the use.

"After a ground swell across the country I hope the Government will start to listen."

He said Minister of Conservation Maggie Barry was not interested because only "crackpots or hippies" do not want 1080 used in the country.

"There was not a single tree hugger, it was all hunters or trampers who use the bush regularly.

"DoC is endangering the environment and the multi-million-dollar possum industry."

The 1080 kills the pests slowly and painfully and causes second or third-generation deaths.

"If I was out hunting with my dog in the Kawekas and it ate a rat that had died from the 1080, then the best thing for me to do would be to shoot the dog, as there is no cure," Mr Jager said. "It has to stop."

In the DoC statistics, he said, two-thirds of the country voted against 1080 and felt the $20 million the Government spent on the project would be better off elsewhere.

"We have such a high rate of unemployment - why don't they take advantage of it and pick up a short form that would be much better for the environment and animals and make use of the unemployed?"

The group protested around the DoC office in Napier and received a lot of public support." Mr Jager said.