re wekas - I guess everyone believes what they want to believe, and won't credit what they don't want to believe. See http://forum.forestandbird.org.nz/topic/anti-1080-myths about wekas and 1080 (and I'm sure there's other threads in this Room as well).
The problem seems to be getting a method which will effectively rid all animal pests like possums from everywhere, including inaccessible terrain, and there are some places even experienced trappers and hunters just can't get to. This is a debate about the state doing a job keeping native species alive in the long-term through effective and large-scale pest control using a method that does let them get to those places, and not about how it should all be left simply to professional and amateur hunters and trappers, no matter how noble or sentimental they feel.
And no-one, no-one I've heard in this debate, says that we shouldn't be looking at alternative methods. It's simply what you do 'in the meantime'. Nothing - and let species/populations go extinct possibly, or use what tools are available and don't put people at risk (humans aren't on your list I notice).. While there's debate about whether 1080 is causing more harm than it's preventing, heated discussions will continue and conspiracy-theories will continue - and all the while 1080 is still being used, like it or not.
Anyway, you'd better start packing for your 200 nights away - and as Kukupa said, see how long you feel you're being effective before you blow a gasket and head for home.
I don't mind the state paying to get rid of pests - we'll all benefit in the long-run, even the hunters will still have forests to hunt in. Don't forget that it's plant species that are being looked after too.
Finally - can you look past the immediate effects on individuals, and look at recovery-rates? Even if we accepted your statistics about kill-rates from the actual 1080-delivery, what about the rates of population increase for that same species afterwards (let alone lots of additional species of plants and animals). There's lots and lots of examples stated on this discussion room about the numbers of populations increasing sometimes dramatically not long after a 1080 drop. You can't argue with what's really happening. That makes no sense.
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