Expert Open Letter on SGARs
Scientists and Experts Call for Urgent Action to Prevent a Toxic Class of Rat Poisons from Harming Wildlife, Pets, and the Environment
May 2025
As researchers, academics, conservationists, farmers, doctors, veterinarians, and NGOs working to protect Australia’s biodiversity and pets, we write to express our grave concerns about the widespread use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). These highly toxic chemicals, designed to control rodent populations, are having far-reaching and unintended consequences, causing significant harm to native wildlife, pets, and ecosystems.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) is now at a critical decision point in its current review of anticoagulant rodenticides. This is a rare and urgent opportunity to implement bold, science-based measures that will prevent further harm. Strong action—including removing SGARs from public sale—would be a landmark step toward safeguarding Australia’s unique biodiversity and pets and aligning with international best practices.
At the same time, outside existing regulatory processes, our elected federal representatives can play a decisive role. National leadership is needed to drive further reforms alongside the APVMA regulations, including legislative changes, effective monitoring schemes, investment in safer alternatives, and stronger protections for biodiversity. We call on parliamentarians to support policy measures that prioritise responsible pest control while reducing the harm caused by SGARs to our pets and native wildlife.
SGARs—including brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone, difenacoum, and flocoumafen—do not degrade quickly, accumulating in the bodies of poisoned animals and persisting in the environment for extended periods. Just a single feeding of SGAR can deliver a lethal dose, leading to prolonged internal bleeding, weakness, and a slow, painful death. SGARs present an immediate and direct threat to wildlife and pets which ingest the baits, causing severe health risks and potential fatalities. Many species—like possums, bandicoots, birds, and domestic dogs and cats—suffer from ingestion of these poisons. Pets may find and consume baits set out in homes, sheds, or gardens, while wildlife can encounter them in urban areas, farmlands, and even conservation reserves. While bait boxes are often assumed to reduce non-target access, they do not always prevent wildlife or pets from reaching the poison. Improper bait placement—such as using loose bait, placing it in bait boxes outdoors, or setting out excessive amounts—further increases the risk of accidental poisoning.
Furthermore, the toxic effects of SGARs extend beyond the immediate victims, as the poisons can persist in the bodies of affected animals for weeks or even months, creating an ongoing risk of secondary poisoning. This means that predators and scavengers—including owls, quolls, goannas, and even domestic pets—don’t just face a one-time risk; they are repeatedly exposed as SGARs accumulate in the food chain. Effects extend well beyond the intended targets, creating a silent but devastating impact on ecosystems.
Australian research has confirmed that SGARs have been detected in multiple Threatened species, including five marsupials (Tasmanian Devils, Spotted-tailed Quoll, Eastern Quoll, Chuditch and Northern Quolls) and three species of birds (Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo, Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle and Tasmanian Masked Owl) on the mainland and Tasmania which are listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 (EPBC Act). The mounting evidence indicates that the effects of SGARs on multiple threatened species are severe enough to warrant listing SGAR exposure as a Key Threatening Process under the EPBC Act. However, it is not only impacting Threatened species: there has also been documented evidence of SGARs in 86 species of native wildlife (including birds, marsupials, reptiles, frogs and invertebrates), alongside domestic dogs and cats across Australia.
Despite the well-documented risks and the growing list of species impacted, SGARs remain readily available in Australian retail stores for widespread use by the public. Countries such as the United States, Canada, and European Union nations have introduced significant restrictions on use to reduce risk of unintended harm. Australia is lagging behind, allowing the continued use of SGARs in a way that is putting our wildlife and pets at risk.
We acknowledge the importance of rodent control, but it must be done responsibly, as we see with rodenticide use in well-designed and managed conservation work. Safer alternatives for domestic situations exist, including trapping and rodenticides with less potential for secondary poisoning. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches, which focus on resource modification, exclusion methods, and targeted control, provide long-term solutions that significantly reduce risks to non-target species.
To address this urgent issue, we call on federal decision-makers to take the following actions:
Withdraw SGARs from public sale and restrict their use to licensed, trained professionals under strict regulatory controls.
Ban the use of SGARs outside of buildings.
Promote safer alternatives, including mechanical or electronic traps and non-anticoagulant options that pose lower risks to wildlife and pets.
Implement Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies that prioritise non-chemical control methods for rodent management.
Mandate national monitoring and reporting systems: one to track SGAR use and deployment, and another to assess impacts on non-target species, potentially through a scheme like the UK’s Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme. These systems should be designed to complement and inform each other.
Establish clear buffer zones prohibiting SGAR use in ecologically sensitive habitats.
Develop a national Threat Abatement Plan (TAP) to address rodenticide contamination and its environmental impact.
This issue is critical, and the urgency cannot be overstated. The ongoing use of SGARs presents a severe and immediate threat to Australia’s wildlife and pets. The evidence is mounting, and it is clear that SGAR exposure must soon be nominated as a Key Threatening Process (KTP) under the EPBC Act. This is not merely an environmental issue—it is a crisis that demands immediate intervention from federal decision-makers. While the APVMA is not involved in the KTP process, we want to signal that this nomination is imminent, and it should act as a catalyst for the APVMA to make robust, science-based decisions in its current review. We strongly urge all federal decision-makers to support stringent, evidence-backed restrictions on SGARs now to ensure Australia takes a responsible, forward-thinking approach to pest management—one that safeguards both our wildlife and pets.
We, the undersigned professionals, academics, conservationists, farmers, doctors, NGOs, veterinarians and wildlife experts, stand united in our call for urgent reform.
Yours sincerely,
Kate Millar
Chief Executive Officer,
BirdLife Australia
For a reference list of relevant papers, see: www.actforbirds.org/ratpoison/references
Image: Powerful Owl by Lyn Walsh
