Tell Hawkesbury Council to Stop Poisoning Wildlife.
Hawkesbury Council is placing brodifacoum bait stations around council-managed facilities. Brodifacoum is one of the most toxic SGARs — it kills native owls, raptors, and quolls through secondary poisoning. Send a direct email to the General Manager asking them to stop.
Brodifacoum is among the most persistent SGARs.
Secondary poisoning of native wildlife
SGARs accumulate in the tissue of poisoned rodents and remain lethal for days. Native predators — powerful owls, wedge-tailed eagles, raptors, quolls, and antechinus — are exposed when they eat affected animals. Research led by Prof. Raylene Cooke and Assoc. Prof. John White at Deakin University has documented SGAR toxins in the livers of native predators across Australia.
Active regulatory review by the APVMA
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority is currently reviewing SGAR registrations following evidence of widespread non-target harm. Councils continuing to use these products risk being on the wrong side of an emerging regulatory shift.
Effective alternatives already exist
First-generation anticoagulants (FGARs) and non-anticoagulant products such as Selontra (colecalciferol) provide effective rodent control with substantially lower risk to non-target wildlife. Hawkesbury Council can transition without compromising its pest management obligations.