Pindone for Rabbit Control: Efficacy, Residues and Cost

Toxins are a major component of rabbit control campaigns in New Zealand, with sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) being the primary toxin in use since the 1950s. However, landowners can use 1080 only under the direct supervision of a licensed operator, and rabbit populations in regularly-poisoned areas have become increasingly resistant to this form of control. A new, cost-effective toxin that does not cause persistent residues in livestock is required by landowners who wish to undertake their own rabbit control. Several recent trials have demonstrated the potential of the anticoagulant pindone (2-pivalyl-l,3-indandione) to meet these requirements. In 1992, the New Zealand Pesticides Board granted full registration to cereal pindone pellets, so that for the first time the New Zealand public has access to a rabbit bait that does not require a licence for its use. The bait is being used with apparent success in a wide range of situations, with sales of the product exceeding 100 ton in 1993. Proc. 16th Vertebr. Pest Conf. (W.S. Halverson& A.C. Crabb, Eds.) Published at Univ. of Calif., Davis. 1994.