Introduction 1080 poison is a poison used to kill possums as they are seen as a pest. Possums were brought into New Zealand to start a fur industry. The first surviving possums were brought from Australia in 1858 to the South Island. In 1921 it was made illegal to bring possums into New Zealand as there were possums living in 450 parts of New Zealand. By 1946 possums were officially declared a pest. In the 1960s the population of possums were in the South Island with hardly any in the north island