April 9th, 2025Silent killer threatening our native birds and pets
Native birds, wildlife, and even pets are at risk because of the unregulated use of Second-generation Anticoagulant Rodenticide poisons in Australia, Birdlife Australia says.
“These silent killer chemicals are still available on retail shelves and online in Australia, despite the known risks,” says BirdLife Australia’s Dr Holly Parsons.
“Australian Governments and decision makers can help us solve the current problem, and ensure that when Australians turn to pest control, we aren’t accidentally leaking silent-killer poisons into our local communities, and killing vulnerable native wildlife and pets.”
As the nation’s largest bird conservation organisation, BirdLife Australia is urging all Australians to Add your voice to their petition, and “help bring these silent killer poisons under control”.
Why are SGARs such a risk?
Second-generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides are powerful poisons that cause internal bleeding, but they have two key drawbacks when compared with other rodenticides:
- SGARs persist in animal tissue for longer than many other rodenticides. This means they are more likely to accumulate within an animal to dangerous and even lethal quantities every time a vulnerable animal ingests these poisons.
- SGARs don’t kill immediately, so poisoned rats and mice, and non-target animals can spread the danger far beyond where they were exposed to poison. This puts native birds and other animals in the local environment, as well as family pets in neighbouring yards and through our local community at risk.
Australian and international studies have proven SGARs pose lethal risks to birds. Dangerous levels of SGARs have been found in studies on dead Australian birds including: Powerful Owls, Southern Boobooks, Wedge-tailed Eagles, Tawny Frogmouths, and more.
The public retail sale of SGARs has been regulated in the US, Canada and EU for years. But Australian regulations lag behind, and SGARs are available for anyone to purchase from supermarkets, hardware shops, and online throughout Australia – literally by the bucketload.
Dr Parsons and BirdLife Australia says Safer alternatives for household use already exist, “meaning we simply don’t need SGARs available for retail sale in Australia”.
They’re urging everyone to Sign our petition and help to protect native birds, pets, and other animals in your community.
You can learn more about how SGARs threaten non-target wildlife like native owls, quolls, and family pets, and discover more ways to help tackle the too-often lethal problem by checking out the birdsAustralia website https://www.actforbirds.org/home.
