1080: A SHADOW OF A DOUBT By The Graf Boys
DVD Reviewed by Claudette Vaughan

This is a tremendous effort on the part of the New Zealanders, Clyde and Steve Graf on the poison 1080. 1080 is primarily used to ‘manage’ introduced species.

There are many concerns about this poison both in New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand uses 90% of the world’s production of 1080. Banned in most countries, 1080 is still used throughout Australia to control so-called ‘pest’ species, and reduce ‘browsing damage’ caused by native animals on private land.

As Clyde Graf walks through bushland he is confronted with the grim reality of dead wildlife and by the looks of things these deer, stags and dead possums found did not die gently. They died horrendously. There was one scene where a dead deer had done all she could to expel the poison from her system and her rectal area had burst out with blood everywhere.

The Graf boys DVD on 1080 is compelling viewing. The likable Clyde Graf looks into the camera at one point having found another beautiful deer dead and states what a tragedy 1080 is and how “the indiscriminate killing of nature is plain evil. It kills everything in its wake.”

And it does.

The powerful testimonials in this film have this to say on the subject:

Jim Doherty is a Maori Tuhoe Elder from the Ngaputahi tribe. He told of very grave concerns regarding 1080 especially in its application which has been aerial dropping in their area. “We are guardians and we need to ensure that our land is handed down for generations to come.” As he pointed out the Maori way of dealing with things is not the European way. “If Europeans stuff up they just pack up and move onto somewhere else, but Maori can’t do that. Whatever we do, is handed down to the next generation.”

William Doherty reminded us of the Maori relationship with the land in that “trees are our older ancestors and even if possum cause damage to trees this does not justify the blanket dumping of this poison on the land.”

Depending on its concentration, 1080 has a toxin’s ability to either poison quickly but in smaller concentrations, it harms things slowly.

The animals that were presented to us in the doco died slow excruciatingly painful deaths.

A Wairoa farmer spoke about the dangers of aerial dumping. ‘we’ve got to stop using 1080 because it’s too cruel”. He witnessed a stag actually ripping his stomach open because of the pain after ingesting the poison. “It’s just too over the top,” he said. “No civilised nation should be using this stuff.”

Jean Martin, President of the Federated Farmers in Gisbourne said she had witnessed a couple of deer that had probably walked a mile, down across a gully and up to her farm, before they died. She thought it took about 2-3 days before they came out of the bush and died. “I think that’s just a shocking way to kill an animal. 1080 is a disgrace to think that humans could do that to an animal.”

An interesting fact about 1080 is it is not fast working so herbivore animals who are not endowed with the reflex of vomiting die slow and painful deaths.

Possums take 14-16 hours to fall victim. “I see no reason why they have to keep on doing this. It seems to me there’s been an industry built up around it with a whole lot of people making a whole lot of money out of it and to make money out of cruelty to animals I feel is just about as low as you can go.”

Dogs in particular, the DVD tells us, are susceptible to the 1080 poison. Since 1080 was introduced into New Zealand, hundreds, if not thousands, of dogs have become indirect victims through secondary ingesting.

Another major concern of this poison is it has a secondary effect. There is one testimonial where the man was speaking about his dog had a baby possum then started foaming at the mouth, developed lock jaw and uncontrollable shaking (this is all on film). In the end he had to ask for the dog to be shot it was just too painful to bear and there is no known antidote as well.

A minuscule amount will kill a dog. There are no parameters for 1080, no research done, it’s been banned in most countries and its symptoms include: restlessness; increased hyper excitability; incontinence or diarrhea; excessive salivation; abrupt bouts of vocalization; and finally sudden bursts of violent activity.

1080 must be banned. This is a wake-up call for both NZers and Australians.

“A Shadow of Doubt” is an excellent DVD. It’s very hard to find this kind of quality work. If you want to contact the Graf Boys their email address is: thegrafboys@xtra.co.nz

1080: THE INTERVIEW WITH CLYDE GRAF
by Claudette Vaughan

The Graf Brothers have just completed a stunning film available on DVD about the noxious poison 1080 and what kind of devastating damage it is doing to native wildlife and habitats.

This poison has the capacity to destroy New Zealand’s carefully cultivated “green” image if left to its own devises. After viewing this film you will no doubt want to join a chorus of voices in getting this indiscriminate killer off the market in both New Zealand and Australia. Here is the Abolitionist’s interview with Clyde Graf.

Abolitionist: Did you make the DVD for personal use?

Clyde Graf: No. We were approached by anti-1080 activists in New Zealand here who have been frustrated for many years with the continued use of aerial bombardment. So they contacted us and said, “Look! Can you do anything?” and it just so happened it was very good timing for us as we had no new projects on. We told them we would go into the bush with this new drop of 1080 just about to occur in our territory which is the Te Urewera National Park. It’s the biggest National Park in the North Island. They bombarded 55,000 hectares with the stuff. They used two different methods – carrots and cereal pellets which you can see in the DVD.

In New Zealand at the moment there’s a 1080 poison review going on. It’s a big battle and the review is going to be finalised this year. They want to bombard all the national parks, everywhere, with this stuff but this is just nonsense. The problem is you’ve got the propaganda guy pushing the stuff as if it’s the only solution. There really isn’t much of a problem in regard to so-called “pest” animals like deer and possum. The possum is the so-called biggest “pest” here and for many years now the numbers have been reduced by trappers etc so there hasn’t been any need for this mass slaughter, wastage and cruelty.

Abolitionist: I think the most exciting thing about your DVD on 1080 was a. the quality of the footage and b. activists that we know of here working against the 1080 propaganda can now show politicians something unique in that a picture really does paint a thousand words when it comes to this. The testimonials you filmed were extraordinary!

You said you and Steve got started on this project because of the concerns of 1080. Surely the indiscriminate nature of the killing must be a chief concern and also the application of it being aerial as well has got to be up there?

Clyde Graf: There are also concerns coming to light now with regards to human health as well. We have a court hearing next month all down the country for the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) Review. Many people are emerging that believe they have been poisoned by 1080 to some degree and as you can see on that DVD there is the unknown health risks associated with it as well. The big worry is New Zealand wants to eradicate every introduced species and they think that 1080 is the answer yet every other country in the world is very careful about it’s application. It’s being dropped into the waterways, indiscriminately killing everything in its wake. You talk about a deer carcass lying in the fog in wintertime then in 6 months the skeletal remains remain poisonous and then there’s the manufacturers of the poison stating that every carcass has to be burnt, buried deeply and removed and this stuff gets left all over the hillside.

Abolitionist: It was surprising to hear that New Zealand is the biggest consumer of 1080 making up 90% of the market and it comes from a small American business. Australia is there as well. It’s killing these beautiful wallabies and wildlife in Tasmania and Australia is culpable. It is used because it’s cheap?

Clyde Graf: Over here it’s seen as a good “solution” for a possum problem. Personally I don’t have a problem with possums. Possums aren’t the big problem they say they are.

In New Zealand we have a lot of weather problems here. Our Department of Conservation will take local Maori and fly them over in helicopters to say to them, “Look at the damage possums are doing to the bush.” Most of these areas are on the top of ridges where the weather has been the culprit. Wind damage plus we’ve just had a massive snow fall this year that’s been the worst in one hundred years or more that’s totally smashed up the bush. I guarantee you in 5 years time that will be blamed on possums as well.

And the propaganda goes on.

They like the stuff [1080] because they don’t have to deal with humans. Deer are magnificent animals. They are an asset to the forests. They do no damage to the forests. Everything is out-of-control here with regard to this pro-1080 stuff. You wouldn’t believe the stuff they print about it in the papers.

We have lived in the bush all our lives and that’s how we could get this footage. It looks easy what we do out there but you need a lot of experience in the bush to understand the ruggedness of these national parks. This DVD took 5 months to put together and it’s been a labour of love for my brother and I to do it. We’re not making any money from it. So it’s not like getting some city folk and camera crew in there to try to do something, because it can’t be done that way. We took the view to try and be unbiased and not be either pro- 1080 either. It’s a charity thing for us. We are just donating this whole project to fighting 1080 and we want the Australian activists to agitate against it and get the message out there as well.

Abolitionist: The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority are the body responsible in reviewing, regulating and distributing the poison 1080. They refuse to reassess the use of 1080 based on animal welfare concerns because (quote) ‘there is no well established scientific criteria for assessing or making decisions about animal humaneness’. (see World League for the Protection of Animals website). I think your DVD will now prove that wrong. What stood out for me was your sensitive dealing with these beautiful dead deer and stags that came across your path obviously having died from the most horrific death possible with the stag violently knocking his head against the trees etc…

Clyde Graf: I was revolted by this bombardment in mass proportions of what we witnessed. We were out there in the hills and these creatures are wandering around. It’s hard to get near deer to get the footage but we did actually get footage of a female deer wobbling around and her head drooping but it wasn’t good enough to put in the DVD, then darkness fell quickly out there as well.

I call 1080 “the convenient poison” because it occurs behind closed doors and also happens at night. It’s a ruthless, ugly, terrible thing when you are out there and after its been ingested there is no known antidote. Morally it’s just disgusting.

Those fat boys sitting in their offices doing nothing about this except drinking beers just make me sick. The way they tick their little box there and say, “Yeah, we’ll do that area next.” They wouldn’t go on foot to see what happens because they would never hack it. Forty birds got poisoned here recently. I think it was a protest in Auckland making the front page of the paper. Big outcry but we are talking thousands and thousands of creatures in one go which die in a much more uglier way than the birds did and no one cared because they didn’t see it. This slaughter of wildlife is hidden.

Abolitionist: What about the footage on your DVD of the secondary effects where the man’s dog ate a baby possum joey and then started convulsing and foaming at the mouth?

Clyde Graf: Lots of dogs have died out in the bush. It’s always hushed up. Farmers get compensation if they agree not to talk but to watch a dog die from 1080 poisoning is wickedly cruel. The other creatures take longer than dogs. The herbivores don’t have a reflex action from their stomach to vomit up the poison and they can take up to 14 hours to die.

Another thing that is really irritating me is the Special Prevention to the Cruelty of Animals (SPCA) are very weak over here. They will never stand up against the use of 1080. They make a little submission to this ERMA Review saying they don’t like to see the deer being poisoned because they are “pests” and they recommend more stringent warnings for people to be aware of but animal cruelty is not about discrimination, you know? You can’t put a tag on an animal and say “you’re a pest.” These animals have as much right to be there as any other.

Abolitionist: In your DVD you spoke to a diverse amount of people from the senior lecturer in environmental studies at the University of Victoria, Dr Sean Weaver to animal control people, through to concerned farmers. All these testimonials were united in the fact that we humans cannot treat animals like this.

Clyde Graf: The one thing we do regret in the DVD is the Forest and Bird crowd and their spokesperson Kevin Hackwell who is an advocacy manager. He is always being quoted in the press as saying, “If we don’t use 1080, our forest will fall silent within 20 years”. This is utter nonsense. Deer and possum have been in New Zealand for over 120 years. They were at their highest numbers back in the 50’s. Since then their numbers have dropped dramatically but this propaganda goes on.

My issue is I have had first hand experience out in the field with this stuff and it’s not to be tolerated.

Abolitionist: Is the genie out of the bottle with 1080 in New Zealand yet, Clyde?

Clyde Graf: It will be. In a few months time we actually believe it’s now looking like it is a predetermined outcome. They will do this 1080 review as a public gesture to make it look as if they are looking at it seriously but it should never be approved. New Zealand is meant to have a clean, green image for their tourists. At the moment they are using helicopters for blanket dumping. Last month down in the South Island they used 7 helicopters for one dumping and now this method is approved all of the time.

Abolitionist: Who is opposing you over there?

Clyde Graf: We’ve got minority crowds. There’s also the general public that haven’t experienced it. Then there’s the one’s that are pro-1080 and that’s the Department of Conservation; Animal Health Board; Forest and Bird; Regional Council – they are all pushing this “pest” control angle and they are pretty much all wrong on it as well.

I don’t know where they have gotten their information from. We have grown up in the bush. We know the bush but they don’t consult with people like us. They use aerial 1080 because it’s easy but it’s not cheap.

Abolitionist: How does it get into the human food chain? Is it through contaminated water?

Clyde Graf: No. It is believed by Maori and this is probably a fact that when 1080 falls on the ground it gets sucked up into the trees but it also lands in the trees. Maori like to eat eels which they call tuna. They will eat the carcasses that come into the streams and it enters the food chain that way. The amount ingested by the eel might not be enough to kill him but he can retain the poison. Then there’s the issue of insects and birds eating 1080. It’s terrible.

Abolitionist: You interviewed Dr Peter Scanlon, a medical practitioner who developed an interest in 1080 with his work with pregnant women and hormonal effects in pregnancy.

Clyde Graf: That’s the other thing. In regards to Dr Scanlon if a hunter goes out and kills a deer the deer might be only slightly poisoned yet it might be enough to trigger something of a hormonal progression off later on, especially in pregnant women. We just don’t know. The pro-1080 people use scientists to find information about the immediate kill factor rather than any long-term effects. The history of poisons in this country is littered with mistakes.

Abolitionist: How does 1080 compare to DDT?

Clyde Graf: We are at the same sort of cross-roads here. If they do end up blanket dumping continually as they have been doing, we don’t know that in 20 years down the track it can be tracked back to 1080 and that’s what people are concerned about here as well. The Department of Conservation and all those types thought they could get away with it, and they would have, but they blanket dumped all this noxious poison into the environment but now through the DVD we have a visual out there that respects animals and is telling the truth. As far as we, me and my brother, are concerned the bigger the noise we can all make about this, the better off we’ll all be as a result.

“A Shadow of Doubt” is an excellent DVD. It’s very hard to find this kind of quality work. If you want to contact the Graf Boys their email address is: thegrafboys@xtra.co.nz