Over the shelf rat poison found in critically endangered cockatoo species

A rat poison sold on the shelves of most hardware stores has been found in the corpses of several native animals, now including a critically endangered cockatoo.

A study published earlier this month found lethal levels of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides in the body of a deceased Carnaby’s black-cockatoo for the first time.

SGARs have been detected in wild animals before because the toxins are slow to break down with a slow rate of killing, which can pass the poison onto other predators.

According to Murdoch University’s senior lecturer in wildlife and conservation medicine and lead author of the cockatoo study, Anna Le Souef, the presence of SGARs in a wild cockatoo was unexpected but an isolated incident.

She said the cockatoo came into care at Perth Zoo in 2018 after being found in Kalamunda believed to have been struck by a vehicle.

Over the next few days in care, the bird’s health deteriorated to the point it had to be euthanised. With a college testing raptors around Perth for rodenticides at the time, Ms Le Souef said she was able to test the cockatoo at Edith Cowan University.

“To our surprise, it came back with two types of anticoagulant rodenticide,” she said.

“It could have been foraging near some bait, or perhaps even broke into a bait station, we don’t know, but it is something they’d be capable of with their beaks.

“Whilst it’s not something I envisage becoming a widespread problem in this species, I think it speaks to the danger of these rat baits that are used in the community.”

Owl Friendly Margaret River Region’s Dr Boyd Wykes was the driving force behind a push for local governments to forgo the use of SGARs for safer first generation rodenticides.

While several local governments have implemented their own restrictions, the State Government handballed the issue of a total ban to the Federal Government with the poison is currently under review with the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.

A APVMA spokesperson said they were aware of recent studies on Carnaby’s cockatoos and possums and would consider the findings in their assessment of the poison.