Safeguarding Our Raptors

Host, Kellie Tannock chats to Dr Boyd Wykes from Owl-Friendly Margaret River and Tara Finch, Manager of the Capes Raptor Centre.

We recorded this episode on March 3, 2026 to highlight the devastating impact of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARS) on our native wildlife. The regulatory body, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Association (APVMA) is conducting a review of SGARs and taking public submissions.

Then, great news, on March 10 came the announcement that SGARs poisons would be declared restricted chemical products and the registration of all products containing SGARs would be suspended for one year from 24 March, 2026.  

Read the APVMA March 10 announcement in full

This is an important step but it's not a full ban on the products so we have decided to air this podcast as it was recorded to give a full summary of the impact these products have on our birds and wildlife and explain why we want to see them banned in Australia. For more information on the Capes Raptor Centre's recommendations for alternative safer rodent control visit the Capes Foundation website. 

Thanks for listening and if you've enjoyed this podcast, please share with your family and friends.

For more inspiration on visiting the Margaret River Region follow @margaretriver on Instagram or explore www.margaretriver.com.

Transcript

Kellie Tannock 0:01

Welcome to Cape's Conversations, sharing the stories that make the Margaret River region a truly special place to live and visit. Hello, I'm Kellie Tannock, and this week we learn more about the impact of rat poisons on our wildlife and what local groups are trying to do to ban their sale in Australia. I'll be joined later by the manager of the Cape's Raptor Centre, a specialist wildlife hub dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of native raptors here in Margaret River and a place you can visit. My first guest is Boyd Wykes, coordinator of Owl Friendly Margaret River. Welcome, Boyd.

Boyd Wykes 0:34

Thanks, Kellie.

Kellie Tannock 0:35

There's been a lot of press in recent weeks highlighting the impact of rat poisons on our wildlife. Can you summarise that issue for us?

Boyd Wykes 0:43

Firstly, a little bit about Owl-Friendly. We found masked owls here, as a retired ornithologist in about 2018 and realized that they were here because they're feeding on our rats and mice and rabbits. And then realizing that they're feeding on the rodents, the work was coming out of Edith Cowan University, that they're being subject to the rat poisons that we use around where we live and work. So in that time, uh I guess it's eight years now, we're we've been founding a local campaign to educate people about not using the worst of the poisons uh that kill not only the owls, but a lot of our other wildlife. And that is uh we've come to a particular, I guess, once in a generation time to tackle this problem at its source at the federal government regulator level to uh get the worst of the rat poisons, the ones that not only kill the rats but kill the wildlife uh off the shelves and out of the use of the pest controllers. Either way, they still kill our wildlife when they're put out there. So the regulator is the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, a bit of a mouthful. It's independent of government and reviews and approves all of the sort of uh chemicals that are used includ uh around uh agriculture, veterinary products, etcetera. And it includes the rat poisons that have been undertaking a review for five years. In December they came out with recommendations of how well in fact the first thing they did was recognize there really is a problem and legally that has to be addressed. The rat poisons uh have to be addressed because they're killing wildlife. So that's a win. It's taken a long time to get there. And then they've come out with recommendations that we believe will do nothing in fact, and it's been very disappointing.

Kellie Tannock 2:38

Now that we refer to them as second generation anticoagulant rodenticides, which is an enormous mouthful. Can you break that down for us? Tell us what it is and why they're harmful, what do they do?

Boyd Wykes 2:48

Okay, we call them owl poisons because that's what they're killing, but they're long-lasting, persistent, highly toxic one-dose kills apotite poisons. So they're a first-generation poisons based around warfarin, so we know that as a blood thinner. So the rats and mice have to eat multiple feeds, and it breaks down so quickly that they have to come back to the base stations a number of times. And that breaks down in the rats and mice when they're dying and dead. So that when we get all of the wildlife that kills the rats and mice, it takes them about a week going out into the environment where they live to be sick and die. And uh in that time they can be eaten by any predator that feeds on rats and mice, or your pet dog or cat, and then any scavenger. The second generation have been developed, uh, partly because they're much easier. It sounds like a silver bullet you just killed with one dose and you got rid of your rats and mice. That lasts for about nine months in the system. Any rats and mice that uh are eaten by dying and dead, uh uh handing the toxin over into whatever's eating them, and that can pass right up the food chain. It accumulates in the livers of our owls and so much other wildlife. And uh then they have to suffer the same long death internal bleeding, and uh then we find them often hit by a car um or on a barbed wire fence, or just uh sitting uh in someone's garden uh just looking miserable and there's very little chance of saving them if they've got the right enzymes.

Kellie Tannock 4:32

Are we talking about just a very isolated couple of incidents, or is this very widespread in our wildlife population?

Boyd Wykes 4:39

It goes throughout the food chain, and um so our colleagues elsewhere have been finding it in would you believe fish from reptiles, quals, Tasmanian devils, vegetable eagles, many of them threatened the Tasmanian Wedgetail Eagle, the Tasmanian Masked owl because they've got threatened status. The Tasmanian Devil has had most research done on them. The research is patchy, but it's not been funded by the uh the producers of these chemicals, it's not been funded by the government. So recently we had uh thirteen of our local Southwest masked owls. This is a special forest mast owl. I've got to tell you, Kellie, that no one except our group has ever found them, ever found their nests in Southwest WA. So this is very new information requiring many, many nights out there uh tracking them down. So then people are handing in the dying and dead birds, um we have been wanting to get them tested. We know they feed on rats and mice. That's about $300 a test. So uh Edith County University has managed to get that money together. We've had 13 of the birds that have come into us tested in recent weeks, and all of them have toxic lethal levels of rodenticide in them. Um exactly the pathways, how it gets through to the wildlife, where the bags are laid, what's happening that needs a lot more research. But basically we know that these uh second generation one dose kills are distant rodenticides killing our wildlife.

Kellie Tannock 6:23

You must feel a real sense of urgency about this. What would you like to see as an outcome of this review?

Boyd Wykes 6:29

The recommendations that have come out have just been called Silly, changing the labelling, requiring the baits to be put into bait stations and people to pick up the dead and dying rats as they head out into the environment. The main way we see the secondary poisoning of the rats and mice and other wildlife that have eaten the bait getting into uh the wildlife is through those rats and mice leaving wherever they're fed on the baits, mainly in bait stations, heading out into the environment. We want those bait stations to not have any of the second generation uh poisons in them. So we don't want the public to be buying them. We don't want the pest controllers to be using them, we want them banned. If they can be used safely, it should be up to the manufacturers or the government to prove that they can be used safely. But what I want to say is that we are an owl-friendly Margaret River Shire. There are about 40 uh owl-friendly shiers now in WA and many around Australia, and they are all not using the second generation dates with the integrated pest management, with the alternatives, uh mainly, of course, doing everything you can before you use a poison, or if you've got to use a poison, using those first generation ones.

Kellie Tannock 7:53

I'm Kellie Tannock, I'm chatting with Boyd Wykes from Owl-Friendly Margaret River about the impacts of second generation anticoagulant poisons on our wildlife. Boyd, can you just sort of break it down in real simple terms for all of us who wonder what we should be doing as a safer alternative to eliminate rats? What are our options?

Boyd Wykes 8:13

The first option here in Margaret River is to go to Nutrients or Mitre 10, where they are promoting the alternatives and they can give you good advice. So rather than me telling you what particular brands of first generation poison to use if you uh have to do that. But also on just starting off with hygiene, not giving them places to feed and eat and all the rest, go to the Owl-Friendly Margaret River website and you'll learn a lot more about all the owls and wildlife and what their calls are like and what wildlife you can have living around your homes, and you'll have a lot more of it if we can stop using these poisons.

Kellie Tannock 9:01

I've chosen two songs with a special link which I'll reveal later. The first is Spacey Jane from their 2022 album Here Comes Everybody. This is Head Above. Well, that was Head Above by Spacey Jane, and this is Capes Conversations, a half-hour spotlight on this wonderful region, proudly sponsored by the Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association. And this week we're focused on wildlife, specifically our birds of prey. And joining me now is Tara Finch from the Capes Raptor Centre. Welcome, Tara. Thank you. Tell me, has the Capes Raptor Centre added its voice to the government's pesticides review?

Tara Finch 13:08

Yes, we have. At the Raptor Centre, we obviously um rehabilitate, we rescue and rehabilitate all kinds of raptors or birds of prey. And unfortunately, very commonly when we get owls in, they have had rodenticide poisoning. So it's very devastating when you get an otherwise perfectly healthy mature owl and it's sick and dying because of something that's so preventable, and they're just doing their job out there trying to control the rodents.

Kellie Tannock 13:35

Yeah, sure. So perhaps we can take a step back and you could explain what is a raptor.

Tara Finch 13:41

Yeah, so a raptor or same is a bird of prey, they're the same thing. So any predatory bird with talons and hooked beaks. So your owls, eagles, hawks, and falcons are all raptor species.

Kellie Tannock 13:55

I'm Kelly Tannock and I'm chatting with Tara Finch from the Capes Raptor Centre, which specialises in rehabilitating birds of prey. What other threats do these species face, Tara?

Tara Finch 14:06

All sorts of things. Often we do get them in because they've been hit by cars and they can get broken wings and concussions are very frequent with that to varying degrees. Also things like getting caught in netting, so in orchards and things like that, they get caught in there, and even still they get shot far too frequently for what we would expect to see, but it still does happen. So yeah, they're probably the biggest ones they face in this region.

Kellie Tannock 14:35

I mean, obviously, a lot of these birds would be suffering in the wild and perhaps never get to the raptor center. How many times would you bring in an injured or see an injured or else bird in say a week?

Tara Finch 14:46

Uh it varies seasonally. Over summer is the fledgling period, so that we get a lot more birds come in. They're just struggling, they haven't quite learned how to hunt survival of the absolute fittest. So unfortunately, up to 80% of raptors don't make it past one year old. Um, over the spring and summer months we get a really high number, but over a year we generally get somewhere between 50 and 70 birds through, and generally around about 40% of those are able to rehabilitate to be able to be released back to the wild.

Kellie Tannock 15:19

Okay, that's a huge number, really, from my perspective. I've heard that raptors are actually an indicator of the healthy ecosystem, and so they are doing a pretty important job, and vineyards are always happy to see them in the skies. Um, what part do they play in the ecosystem?

Tara Finch 15:34

Yeah, they play a really important role I touched on earlier about controlling those rodents. Um being peak apex predators in our environment, they're a really good indicator of the health of the whole ecosystem. So if there's enough um the whole ecosystem is very healthy to support that population. So from your insects, a lot of raptors eat insects and bugs and uh beetles, um, up to your mice and rats, as well as your birds. So um vineyards aren't particularly fond of those silver eyes who love those grapes as much as we do. So if they're around and there's a healthy ecosystem, there's enough raptors around that are deterring those little birds um from the vineyards. I know our neighbouring vineyards are always quite happy to have our birds flying overhead. I'm sure that's a it just shows a really healthy ecosystem with that full range of animals.

Kellie Tannock 16:23

This is Capes Conversations, which is proudly sponsored by the Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association. I promised another song with a local link to Spacey Jane's head above. This next artist, Tony Lane, released his album in January and performed live here on RMR 101.9 FM. Tony is the father of Peppa Lane, one of the Spacey Jane's members, so the musical gene is strong there. This is The Sum of the Parts. That was Margaret River's own Tony Lane with Some of the Parts. I'm Kellie Tannock, this is Capes Conversations, and Tara Finch from the Capes Raptor Centre is still with me in the studio. Tara, a big drive of the centre is education, which allows visitors to see these amazing birds and learn more about them. What can visitors expect when they come to the Capes Raptor Centre?

Tara Finch 21:02

Yeah, so there's a few parts to a visit to the centre. A highlight is definitely seeing the bird of prey encounters or the free flight demonstrations weather dependent. But then you get to learn and see up close a few of our special raptors, our ambassador birds, see their personalities, learn about their unique adaptations and flying through the sky, which is always a highlight. Then we've also got our uh one kilometer bird of prey forest walk. So you can see all our permanent resident raptors, learn about them, read about them, and see them up close, which you don't get very many opportunities to out in the wild.

Kellie Tannock 21:38

Tara, why do you have birds in captivity? They're on display. There must be a good reason.

Tara Finch 21:44

Yeah, so uh Phil and Kathy Pain started the park almost 40 years ago now, largely as a reason for somewhere to I guess house permanent resident raptors. So those birds that have been injured in the wild, but they're not fit enough to be related. We can provide them permanent care, so where they play their really important role educating the public. Um and we can care for them and feed them and give them all their health care and while being really important ambassadors for their species. Um but they're just unfortunately not quite fit enough to release to the wild. Is there a favorite among visitors when they come to the center? Uh the current favourite is probably our barking owls, uh, because they bark all day long. Literally, they bark they sound like a dog. Um I won't do uh a demonstration. Um but they're very entertaining. Um definitely a crowd favourite.

Kellie Tannock 22:38

Thanks so much, Tara. We are so lucky to have this center in Margaret River. Thanks to my guests, Boyd Wykes from Owl-Friendly Margaret River, and Tara Finch from Capes Raptor Center for their passion and advocacy for animated wildlife. Please support organizations like these. And next time you need rat poisons or any chemical, please read the label to make sure you're not harming our environment. I'm Kellie Tannock, and this Capes Conversations, a look at what makes the Margaret River Region such as a special place to live and visit. And we thank our show sponsors, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association. To finish the show, I'm sticking with the family vibe this time. Husband and wife duo, David Mann and Bec Schofield, also known as the Nomadics, with their 2017 release, Peace Pirates.