The real reason dogs are kept out of Australian national parks

It's known as 1080, and it's the reason why you should keep your pooch out of our local national parks. 

Living on the Mid North Coast, we’re lucky to be surrounded by national parkland.

Our headlands are covered in bushland, we have countless nature walks, and campgrounds behind sand dunes and among trees, and while these areas are great for beach-goers, bush walkers, tourists and residents, those with dogs will be acutely familiar with one painful reality: in national parks and on some beaches on the Mid North Coast (and nationally as well) dogs are not very welcome.

“Pets are generally not allowed in NSW national parks and reserves as they can harm native animals and impact the experience of visitors,” a spokesperson for National Parks and Wildlife Service told the Mid North Coaster.

But keeping your dog out of the area is not just about protecting wildlife. It’s about protecting your pets, and potentially saving their lives.

Aerial baiting: Your dog’s worst nightmare

As part of the role of National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the department regularly performs what it calls “predator control” for the protection of wildlife, including threatened species such as shorebirds.

To do this, they use aerial baiting.

On the Mid North Coast, NPWS usually use a fixed wing Cessna Caravan (ParkAir), but other branches are known to use helicopters.

In NSW, aerial baiting uses a poison known as 1080, which the spokesperson said is the most cost-effective method for controlling foxes and wild dogs over large or inaccessible areas.

What is 1080?

1080 (pronounced “ten eighty”) is Sodium Fluoroacetate – an odourless, tasteless white powder that is diluted with water to concentrations specific for the species being targeted.

1080 is a naturally occurring toxin found in over 30 Australian plant species, used as a vertebrate pesticide for baiting pests like foxes and wild dogs, for whom it is lethal. Carnivorous marsupials, birds and reptiles have a much higher tolerance.

All that to say, 1080 is a poison that is used to kill wild dogs, but is lethal to all dogs if ingested, including your pet.

Signage is installed to advise the public when 1080 baiting is carried out in national parks and reserves.

Look out for the signs at access points to national parks and beaches.

Dogs aren’t allowed in most national parks, and that’s not because we sometimes have turtles or shorebirds nesting. NPWS are trying to keep pests under control, while keeping your pets as far away from poison as possible.