1080 usage in New Zealand

1080, the brand name given to the synthetic form of sodium fluoroacetate, is used in New Zealand in efforts to control populations of possums, rats, stoat and rabbits, which are invasive species in the New Zealand environment. Although the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment deemed the use of 1080 in New Zealand "effective and safe" in a 2011 re-evaluation and the substance is widely considered to be the most effective tool currently available for controlling possums over large areas, it remains a contentious issue, with the majority of the debate occurring between conservationists and livestock farmers on one side and hunters and animal-rights activists on the other.

New Zealand is the largest user of 1080 poison, using about 80% of the world's supply. Biodegradable 1080 poison is the only poison currently registered for use on mainland New Zealand as suitable for aerial targeting of the common brushtail possum; a major conservation and agricultural pest. New Zealand has used 1080 for pest control since the late 1950s; it imports sodium fluoroacetate in raw form from the United States of America.