The Sensitivity of Australian Animals to 1080 Poison. III. Marsupial and Eutherian Herbivores

Abstract

Most marsupial and eutherian herbivores that have been tested exhibit a similar high sensitivity to 1080 poison. The main exceptions are marsupial herbivore species in Western Australia, which, because of their exposure to indigenous food plants containing fluoroacetate, have acquired a much greater tolerance to 1080. The most common signs of poisoning amongst herbivores are either hypersensitivity to stimuli or, more frequently, lethargy, respiratory distress and finally respiratory or cardiac failure. Some species experience convulsions, particularly just before death. Signs of poisoning amongst species tested during this study first appeared 1.0-39.4 h after dosing. Deaths followed 3-156 h after dosing. The overall susceptibility to 1080 of 25 species of herbivores is compared with that of the rabbit. Three groups of marsupials are either relatively more, equally or far less susceptible to 1080 than rabbits. Eutherians tested are also less susceptible. The actual risk an individual of each species faces during a rabbit-poisoning campaign is also governed by other factors, particularly the amount of bait consumed and the concentration of 1080 in the bait.