The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority has recommended a ban on the public sale of all Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs). The recommendation reverses an earlier one which would have allowed continued retail sales of the rodenticides which are responsible for countless wildlife deaths, particularly among owls and eagles which eat the carcasses of poisoned rodents.
The availability of SGARs was subject to a review by the authority but its revised recommendation came a week before public submissions were due to close. BirdLife Australia said in an online post that more than 10,000 submissions seeking a ban were from the organisation’s supporters.
Use of SGARs will now be restricted to licensed professionals. However, the recommendation needs to be signed off by the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry before SGARs will disappear from retail stores.
Sally White