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The Conversation
The Conversation
Environment
Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University

Lethal second-generation rat poisons are killing endangered quolls and Tasmanian devils

Adwo/Shutterstock

Humans have been poisoning rodents for centuries. But fast-breeding rats and mice have evolved resistance to earlier poisons. In response, manufacturers have produced second generation anticoagulant rodenticides such as bromadiolone, widely used in Australian households.

Unfortunately, these potent poisons do not magically disappear after the rodent is dead. For example, it’s well known owls who eat poisoned rodents suffer the same slow death from internal bleeding.

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