Important and caution notes
Read the important notes, caution notes and disclaimer for pesticide summaries.

Important notes

Pesticide summaries are refreshed daily to show lists of animal pest operations using vertebrate pesticides and broad scale insecticides.

Listed operations are those undertaken by DOC or other parties on lands administered by DOC. They include operations on offshore islands where the public has access and DOC administered waterways for the control of pest fish.

Areas where pesticides may be or have been laid are divided into the following 3 categories:

  • Proposed application: an application of pesticides is planned, but the details of the operation cannot yet be confirmed. It also may not proceed.
  • Will be laid: an application has DOC permission to proceed. But the exact timing of when pesticides may be laid could still change.
  • Have been laid: pesticides have been laid in the area defined or the application is imminent. Local warning signs are the best indication of when pesticides are present.

Be aware, our pesticide summary does not include:

  • pesticides for rodent control in huts, buildings or other structures
  • cyanide paste baits for possum skin or fur recovery
  • operations on offshore islands where public access is prohibited
  • pesticides laid on (either private or public) land which is not administered by DOC
  • localised use of insecticides such as for individual wasp nest destruction

Caution notes

  • The ‘date of application’ for the 'proposed' and 'will be laid' operations is provisional only and may be subject to change.
  • Occasionally urgent reactive operations (such as TB blips or pest incursions to fenced mainland sanctuaries) may be added to the pesticide summary with little notice prior to the application date.
  • Printed or downloaded copies of pesticide summaries may be out of date. Check the latest pesticide summary information on the DOC website, or with your local DOC office before entering any area.
  • The ‘expected time to warning sign removal’ is an estimate only. This period will be extended if bait or carcass monitoring indicates that pesticide residues may still be present. Until this period is finished, warning signs will stay in place and the operation will continue to be listed on the pesticide summary.
  • Do not eat animals from these areas (except for areas where only cyanide and/or cholecalciferol and/or insecticides have been laid) while warning signs are present and operations are listed on the pesticide summary.
  • Do not eat trout for seven days after aerial application of 1080 baits.
  • Also, do not eat animals from within the ‘buffer zone’ outside of the operational area boundary, as listed below. Note that there are no buffer zones for cyanide, cholecalciferol or insecticides. 

Poison group

0

1

2

3

4

Poison

  • Cholecalciferol
  • Hydrogen cyanide
  • Phosphorus
  • Potassium cyanide
  • Sodium cyanide
  • Zinc phosphide
  • Para-aminopropiophenone
  • Sodium nitrite
  • Any other poison not covered in groups 0, and 2 to 4 

 

 
  • Diphacinone
  • Pindone

 
  • Coumatetralyl
  • 1080

 
  • Brodifacoum
  • Difethialone
  • Bromadiolone
  • Flocoumafen
  • Difenacoum

 

 

Caution period 

(all species) 

 

None

1 month

2 months

4 months

3 years

Buffer zone 

Rabbits

0 m

200 m

200 m

200 m

200 m

Hares, tahr, wallabies and possums

0 m

1 m

1 km

1 km

1 km

Goats, chamois, deer and water buffalo

0 m

2 m

2 km

2 km

2 km

Pigs and other species

0 m

2 m

2 km

2 km

5 km

Source: MPI Animal Products Notice: Production, Supply and Processing (2023)

Disclaimer

While the information in these pesticide summaries is provided in good faith, any person using the information does so at his or her risk solely, and neither His Majesty the King, nor the Minister of Conservation, nor Director-General of Conservation, nor any employee or agent of the Department of Conservation shall be liable for any errors or omissions in these summaries.

Any person who takes any animal from land administered by the Department of Conservation does so at his/her own risk and no warranty, express or implied, is given as to the fitness for human or other consumption of such animals.

Notice

The Department of Conservation’s pesticide summary notification process has been approved by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) as a poison use statement for the purposes of presenting wild animals for processing to a MPI registered processor.