Glossary

Aerial baiting refers to dropping 1080 baits from helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. Aerial baiting is often undertaken in areas that are remote or inaccessible to vehicles. This method is significantly cheaper than ground baiting, but the risk to non-target species is greater.

In temperate areas of Australia, aerial baiting programs are intended to reduce the number of target species likely to breed and spring programs target young animals. In the tropics, aerial baiting programs are usually undertaken in winter.

Aerial baiting is often considered less acceptable by the community than ground baiting because it is regarded as “more indiscriminate”. Longstanding public opposition to aerial 1080 baiting has been documented in Australia and New Zealand, the only two countries in the world where it is permitted.

Learn more about aerial baiting at the Evidence section of this website and the types of baiting used in your state or territory.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Chemicals Authority, or the ‘APVMA', is the Federal regulator responsible for assessing and approving agricultural and veterinary chemical products prior to their sale and use.

Though the APVMA describes itself as an independent statutory authority, 90% of its funding comes from agricultural chemical companies. This is concerning because the APVMA regulates the use of poisons, including 1080, up to the point of retail sale.

After the point of retail sale, the supply of 1080 poison is regulated by the states and territories. Learn more about how 1080 is regulated in your state or territory.

Chemical reviews can only be undertaken when new evidence suggests a “previously unknown risk”. While this led to a review of 1080 poison in 2008 that resulted in new conditions, it did not ban its use. Read the Final Regulatory Decision report.

Canid Pest Ejectors, or ‘CPEs’, are mechanical devices that are partially buried in the ground, leaving only a baited lure exposed that contains a sealed capsule filled with 1080 poison. It is a form of ground baiting.

When an animal attempts to remove the lure by pulling upward on the bait, the contents of the capsule are propelled into their mouth by a spring-loaded piston.

The use of CPEs in Australia stems from concern about non-target risks associated with broad-scale baiting. They were first registered in Australia in 2016 and are a derivative of the “M-44” or “Coyote Getter” devices used in the United States.

You can learn more about CPEs at the Evidence section of this website.

A Code of Practice, or ‘COP’, is a document that sets out a range of methods to guide the control of unwanted or unwelcome wildlife.

There are a number of serious flaws with COPs. For example, they are unenforceable, contain provisions that are framed in advisory (“should”) rather than mandatory (“must”) terms and the humaneness of control techniques are often inadequately addressed.

For example, though the Code of Practice for the Humane Control of Foxes acknowledges that 1080 poisoning can cause animals to “experience pain and suffering, sometimes for an extended period”, still recommends it be used because it is cost-effective.

Finally, COPs provide a barrier against animal cruelty prosecutions. Even if general clauses in the corresponding state or territory animal welfare legislation protect introduced species who are often the targets of 1080 poisoning, this protection may become redundant if it can be shown that the control technique was carried out in accordance with a Code of Practice. In these cases, the state or territory animal welfare law can provide exemptions to offences.

Learn more about the law in your state or territory and find more information on COPs at the Evidence section section of this website.

Coexistence refers to people and wildlife existing in proximity to each other. Ideally, coexistence is a state in which the interests and needs of both humans and wildlife are met by coadapting to living in shared landscapes.

Learn more about coexistence in the Evidence section of this website.

Compassionate conservation is an interdisciplinary field promoting the treatment of all wildlife with respect, justice and compassion. It is related to coexistence because its guiding principles are: do no harm, individuals matter, inclusivity and peaceful coexistence.

Learn more about compassionate conservation in the Evidence section of this website.

“Felixers” are automated traps used to kill cats and foxes. They exploit these species’ innate grooming behaviours by deploying a gel containing 1080 poison as they walk in front of a sensor.

Felixers were developed collaboratively by several non-government organisations, including Bush Heritage Australia, the Foundation for Australia’s Most Endangered Species (‘FAME’), Arid Recovery, the Ian Potter Foundation, Ecological Horizons, Thylation, and the Australian Government.

Free- or pre-feeding involves laying non-poisoned baits before using toxic baits. This is undertaken so that target animals become accustomed to eating the bait by them before using the poisonous bait.

Ground baiting involves laying 1080 baits on the ground by hand or burying baits along tracks, fence lines and other areas where target species travel. Baits are usually laid between 100 and 1000 metres apart. It is most often undertaken on private properties, but also in national parks, in areas that can easily be accessed by vehicles.

One method used in an attempt to minimise the potential for non-target species to take baits is burying them. Tethering baits by wire to a peg or fence post so that they cannot be removed, transported or cached elsewhere is another method used to minimise this risk, but is usually only done when the threat posed to non-target animals is considered “unacceptable”.

Most baits that are buried remain lethal for two weeks. This period can change depending on the weather, however. If there has been heavy rain or the soil is wet, baits degrade faster. Baits laid directly on the surface can remain lethal for a year in dry environments.

Ground-laid meat baits retain enough 1080 to kill a tiger quoll for up to 4 days in summer and over two weeks in winter. Baits remain toxic to dogs for more than a month during winter and for between a week and month during summer.

According to requirements, all bait sites must be identified by markers or pegs so that they can be recovered if they are not taken. A GPS can also be used to record locations baits have been laid. However, most untaken baits are rarely recovered at the end of a baiting program. Learn more about the laws and regulations in your state or territory.

You can learn more about ground baiting at the Evidence section of this website.

These are major threats to the survival of native wildlife that are considered under federal and state legislation.

Under federal law, the impacts of rabbits, goats, foxes, cats and pigs on native species or the environment are listed as key threatening processes.

Learned aversion, sometimes referred to as “bait shyness”, is associated with sublethal poisoning.

Since the 1990s research has shown that sublethal poisoning often results in animals learning to avoid 1080 baits. Though some animals can acquire resistance to the toxin if they are repeatedly exposed to sub-lethal doses, multiple sub-lethal doses can also have a cumulative effect that ultimately leads to death.

Learn more in the Evidence section of this website.

The “LD50” is the lethal dose required to kill 50% of all animals tested.

For example, if you have 100 mice and you give each of them 1 milligram of 1080 for every kilogram of their body weight, an average of 50 mice will die. The lower the LD50, the more susceptible a species is.

Learn more at the Evidence section of this website.

Livestock guardian animals or ‘LGAs’ are an increasingly popular alternative to lethal control measures for minimising the impact of wild predators on farmed animals. There are a number of dog breeds, alpacas, llamas and donkeys that have been successfully used in Europe for centuries.

Mesopredators are small or “middle-rank” carnivores in contrast to large “apex” carnivores. Examples of mesopredators in Australia include foxes and cats.

If dingoes are removed from an ecosystem, mesopredators can fill the gap. This process is known as “mesopredator release”. If dingoes are protected, populations of mesopredators can be naturally regulated.

Learn more about mesopredators in the Evidence section of this website.

Non-target species are any species who are not explicit targets of a 1080 baiting program. Non-target species who can be killed by 1080 include native species and domestic animals, such as companion dogs or farmed animals.

Para-aminopropiophenone, or ‘PAPP’, is a poison that is used instead of 1080 in some circumstances. Though it is considered more humane than 1080 poison, there are serious implications if it ever replaces 1080 poison.

Learn more about PAPP.

Pesticide Control Orders or ‘PCOs’ authorise who can use 1080 and set conditions on how and where it can be used in New South Wales.

There are currently two active PCOs for the use of 1080 in New South Wales. Find them in the Evidence section of this website.

Schedule 7 poisons are highly dangerous substances that require authorisation to obtain, store and use. They are restricted because they have “a high potential for causing harm at low exposures”. Along with arsenic, cyanide and strychnine, 1080 poison is listed as a Schedule 7 poison in all Australian states and territories.

Learn more about how 1080 is regulated in your state or territory.

Secondary poisoning occurs when animals eat undigested bait in the stomach of a poisoned animal, the toxic carcasses of victims or their vomit.

Secondary poisoning can impact predators if they consume contaminated prey. Such species are few, due to their position at the top of the food chain, and the death of one predator can constitute a significant reduction in the local population of that species.

For this reason, most states recommend the carcasses either be incinerated or buried. However, it is widely acknowledged that the carcasses of animals poisoned with 1080 are rarely recovered . Most animals poisoned with 1080 die underground, undercover or in their dens. This is due to the lag period associated with 1080 poisoning , during which animals often return “home” when they begin to feel onset of symptoms.

Despite this, it is not a legal requirement to collect untaken baits or toxic carcasses after a 1080 baiting operation ends. Learn more about the law in your state or territory.

You can learn more about secondary poisoning in the Evidence section of this website.

Standard Operating Procedures or ‘SOPs’ are documents that cover background of the control method, its application, animal welfare considerations, health and safety aspects, equipment required, procedures, further information and references.

You can find many of the SOPs relevant to 1080 poisoning in the Evidence section of this website.

Sodium monofluoroacetate is the correct chemical name for 1080 poison (‘ten-eighty’). It is also known as Compound 1080.

The name “1080” refers to the fact that it was the one thousand and eightieth chemical studied by scientists who were trying to find replacement substances to kill rats and other rodents during World War 2.

Learn more about the history of 1080 in the Evidence section of this website.

Sublethal poisoning is when an animal ingests poison but does not die immediately.

Individual animals can acquire limited resistance to toxins, including 1080 poison, if they are repeatedly exposed to sub-lethal doses. Rabbits, for example, have been shown to have developed some resistance to 1080 baits.

Studies have concluded that the development of such resistance can only occur if some individual animals ingest sublethal amounts of 1080 poison, or through behavioural or biochemical changes that enable them to “circumvent the toxic effects of 1080”.

You can learn more about sublethal poisoning in the Evidence section of this website.

Target species are the species explicitly targeted during a 1080 baiting program.

On the mainland, the target species include dingoes, foxes, wild pigs, rabbits and cats. In Tasmania, target species include brush-tailed possums, wallabies and pademelons.

Learn more about target species in your state or territory.