Poisons for mice are killing predators: from Australia to Russia, a new scientific study.

I have already written many times about Australia—it is a continent with some of the most striking consequences of wildlife destruction caused by human activity. Right now, practically every year there are invasions of various species of insects and animals, and the authorities make decisions to exterminate them! For example, there was an invasion of cats that became an invasive species and spread in millions across Australia. The authorities decided to poison them, as well as allow people to shoot cats with crossbows. Poisoned sausages were dropped from airplanes, killing more than two million cats!

However, those sausages were also eaten by other animals, which began to die as well. Already the following year after the cat extermination, Australia was overrun by mice: millions of rodents attacked houses, agricultural fields, and destroyed crops. People started running them over with vehicles, burning them with fire, poisoning them with even stronger toxins!

And this vicious cycle has still not stopped. Researchers from around the world pay close attention to Australia precisely because here you can clearly see the consequences of global nature destruction! It all started with the colonizers who arrived on the continent and promptly destroyed the top predators, without which ecosystems cannot exist.

And the colonization of Australia was not “long, long ago,” but only just over 200 years ago—that’s 9–10 generations! Colonization began on January 26, 1788, when the First Fleet of the British Empire arrived in Port Jackson (today’s Sydney).

Upon arrival, they immediately hated and exterminated the Tasmanian wolves (thylacines). The last thylacine died in a cage on September 7, 1936, on the island of Tasmania, near Australia. The wolves resisted for a very long time, trying to survive! I wrote a separate chapter about this in my book on wolf conservation “The Right to Life.” The thylacine was an extremely unusual wolf with tiger-like stripes on its back! It played an important role in biological systems, but people destroyed it.

In general, Australia is probably one of the most amazing continents—here in an isolated environment there have always been many exotic animals, primarily marsupials. For instance, there were marsupial lions, giant monitor lizards, a giant eagle, and giant short-faced kangaroos!

Today they no longer exist. Meanwhile, the government continuously fights massive ecological problems! This serves as a living example for all other countries of the world: what will happen if we do not stop the destruction of ecosystems. In this regard, Australia confidently holds the position of an anti-leader.

One could write a whole separate book about Australia, but today I want to talk about the latest scientific data. They will help us, among other things, in our fight for wildlife and apply to all biological systems!

I was lucky enough to be one of the first to study a fresh scientific study called “Widespread detection of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in Australian marsupial carnivores”, published on February 10, 2025.

As I mentioned earlier, in Australia the authorities are constantly poisoning animals (one after another) with numerous toxins. To combat rodents, second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) are used on a massive scale. According to the study, these poisons are harming Australian marsupial carnivores, and not just in isolated incidents, but on a full-scale level.

In total, scientists tested 52 individuals of five species of marsupial carnivores, and exactly half (50%) turned out to be contaminated.

At the same time:

• 11 individuals (21%) had traces of more than one type of SGAR.
• 2 individuals were contaminated with three types of rodenticides at once.
• 32.7% of individuals received sublethal doses of poison.
• 7.7% experienced a toxic exposure capable of causing death.
• 1.9% likely had a lethal concentration of poisons.
• 7.7% of individuals died from poisoning, which amounts to up to 17.3% of all tested animals.

These are terrifying figures!

The following species of marsupial carnivores were at the greatest risk:

• Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) — 15% of individuals were subject to a lethal dose.
• Eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) — 13% had lethal concentrations of poisons.
• Spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) — 20% of individuals experienced toxic exposure.
• Western quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii, “Chuditch”) — 22.2% of individuals died from poisoning.

So they poison mice, and as a result, they destroy populations of predatory animals. And in the case of certain marsupial species, they are already on the brink of total extinction! And here is another hidden ecocide that no one thinks about.

This study is interesting because it is the first proof of the widespread distribution of rodenticides among Australia’s native carnivorous mammals.

The paper also highlights the risks to populations. I think it will be clearer for our associates if we present specific figures:

• If the mortality of Tasmanian devil offspring increases by 15–30%, the probability of population disappearance reaches 100% within 100 years.
• For the spotted-tailed quoll, an increase in mortality by 10–20