Advancing a humane alternative to sodium fluoroacetate (1080) for wildlife management – welfare and wallaby control

Abstract

There is controversy regarding the continued use of sodium fluoroacetate (1080) and questions regarding its humaneness. Two studies on captive animals were undertaken to assess the effectiveness and humaneness of Feratox© cyanide pellets for culling Dama and Bennett's wallabies as an alternative to 1080. Following ingestion of the toxic pellets by the wallabies the effects of cyanide were closely observed. Feratox has few undesirable signs from the welfare perspective and on the basis of humanness offers a preferred alternative to other vertebrate toxins, including 1080, for the control of wallabies.