THE KEA "MENACE"

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22193, 9 September 1937, Page 12

THE KEA "MENACE"

POPULAR THEORIES DISCOUNTED

ALLEGATIONS ABOUT MOUNT COOK AREA

Some of the tales told. about keas were discredited by Mr B I* Wigley managing director of the Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company, Ltd., who, in an interview with The Press" yesterday, replied to the statement made by Mr J. Ritchie, of Bannockburn, at the recent conference of the New Zealand Counties' Association in Wellington, that the Government was wrong in allowing the keas a Mount Cook to be protected. As was reported in "The Press," the conference decided to ask the Government to combat the "kea menace' in the Mount Cook area. Mr Ritchie knew little of the conditions in the district, said Mr Wigley. Some years ago certain counties got permission from the Government * send two men to shoot out the keas near the Hermitage; but he had asked %Sd n niffl=™i to nnd any but a very odd kea away from the Ban Hut Mr° Wigley added and those the hut hurt no one. They uvea o" Se refuse and did not leave the hut On some of his land at the head of Lake Ohau the keas.had caused siderable trouble and he losses. On one occasion he had bought 20 valuable halfbred sheep from Parnassus. The keas killed eight in tne first two weeks. The annual loss among flock sheep was heavy, so it could be seen he was no lover of keas, ne explained. . . . _ „ "But why all this cry out for Government help?" he asked. "Every runholde* knows or should know his responsibility when he takes up his country, and he can, if he wishes, deal with the kea menace, and it is not a very big problem if gone about in the right way. We and others have settled the kea by shooting and poisoning—and without much trouble. "The tale of keas and kidney and kidney fat is all rot," he added. "Put a kea in a cage and he will die if fed on kidney fat. Over the kidneys is the natural place for a kea to sit on a sheep's back, hence the tale. All keas are not killers. You will mostly find the killer on a spur; but the rest will all feed on a dead sheep. You will find keas on different adjoining spurs tackling sheep in different ways, which goes to show that keas do not move off their own country to kill. Some say they travel miles from their haunts to kill. From my experience this is definitely wrong. "Away from the Ball Hut I doubt very much if a dozen keas could be shot in a month on the 100,000 acres we lease from the Government," he said. He could not understand Mr Ritchie rushing into what he knew little about. Mr Wigley's summary of the kea was "a 'dirty dog,' clever, but a lovable old bird."