Bayer boost for Bushy Park

14 June 2004

Bayer boost for Bushy Park

Wanganui’s Bushy Park forest reserve is well armed this winter for its ongoing battle against rats thanks to a donation of Racumin® rat bait by Bayer New Zealand.

The park, which is administered by a trust, is one of the finest remnants of lowland rainforest in the Wanganui area.

The trust’s main aim is to restore the forest and reintroduced rare bird species such as the saddleback, kiwi and kokako. However, to do this it must eliminate pests such as rats, possums, mustelids, hedgehogs and magpies.

Bayer’s Animal Health division product manager David Barnett says the company has a long history of supporting environmental and ecological projects around the world.

“We have been supplying Racumin to Bushy Park for three years now and over that time have helped provide the basis for an effective rat control programme. MORE… “It’s fantastic to see one of our products not only working effectively, but also working in a way that is directly assisting the protection of endangered bird species.”

Bushy Park Trust chairman Allan Anderson says Bayer’s Racumin is used in conjunction with a trapping programme, which although effective has to be kept up continuously.

“Predator and pest control is ongoing – in fact never ending for even though pests may be removed, others move in. In spite of several barrier rings around the reserve some will always get through.

“That’s why it’s great to have the ongoing support of Bayer – without their donation of Racumin it would be much more difficult for us to control rats.”

Mr Anderson says the park’s predator control programme has been working well. The North Island Robin (toutouwai) has successfully been reintroduced and there are plans to introduce saddlebacks (tieke) this year followed by kiwi next year.

The trust is also fundraising for a secure predator fence for the park, which it hopes to have completed by the autumn of 2005. It then intends to construct an incubation unit for kiwi eggs.

“Along with our other predator control measurements, Racumin has provided us with the springboard for the next stage. That is the construction of a fence, which will allow us to create a totally predator-free environment and thus an area significant in species recovery,” says Mr Anderson.

As well as supporting Bushy Park, Bayer New Zealand also sponsors the Whangarei Bird Recovery Centre where it has the Bayer kiwi incubation unit.

MORE… About Racumin®

Racumin is a unique rat bait specially designed to achieve fast, more effective rat and mouse control. It uses a first generation anticoagulant that causes death by internal bleeding, but has low risk of secondary poison of non-target animals such as dogs.

No other anticoagulant bait is faster at killing rats and mice. Because it is highly palatable to rodents uptake is fast with death occurring in as little as three days.

In comparison, bait with high toxicity but low acceptance will kill some rodents, but will leave enough to breed and continue a stable population.

Each Racumin bait is individually packaged in a small sachet designed to be used fully intact for easy handling and securing.

About Bayer

Bayer is an international, research-based group with major businesses in health care, crop science and high tech materials. Employing some 123,000 people worldwide, and almost 900 in Australia/New Zealand, the Bayer Group has a portfolio of over 10,000 products and operations in nearly all countries of the globe. Worldwide operations are managed from Group headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany.

Bayer has had a presence in Australia and New Zealand for more than 75 years, and has made a significant investment in local research and manufacturing. For more information on Bayer visit www.bayer.co.nz or contact:

ENDS