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There are two poisons currently used for rabbit control in Western Australia - '1080 Oneshot' (sodium monofluoroacetate) and Pindone. They are usually added to oats or wheat which act as a bait for the rabbits.
1080 poison has been used in Australia since the mid 1950s. Every oat in 1080 Oneshot contains enough poison to kill three adult rabbits. The poisoned oats are mixed with plain oats and laid in a trail to attract the rabbits. To gain access to 1080, farmers must prove to the Western Australian Department of Agriculture that they have a rabbit problem and that use of the poison is unlikely to impact on native animals.
There are many advantages to 1080 poison. It is lethal to introduced species such as foxes and rabbits, but much less dangerous to native animals. 1080 is also water soluble so it does not last long out in the open, and "...there are over 20 species of bacterial and fungi that happily degrade 1080 - or use it for energy, and break it down into harmless by-products," says Dr Twigg. Pindone is the other poison available for rabbit control, which has been in use since 1984. As Dr Twigg explains: "This was developed because at the moment we don't have an effective antidote to 1080 so you're not allowed to use it in built up or urban areas. The poison we use there is Pindone. Or, because 1080 is very water-soluble and easily leaches out of the bait, we use Pindone if people are controlling rabbits over a period where rain is forecast."
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A collaboration between Irwin District Historical
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...poisons
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