OPOSSUM SURVEY TO BE MADE

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26018, 23 January 1950, Page 6

OPOSSUM SURVEY TO BE MADE

SPREAD TO THE WEST COAST

EFFECT ON HONEY PRODUCTION “The Press” Special Service

WELLINGTON, January 21.

As a first step in controlling the ever-growing opossum depredations in New Zealand and in stopping the destruction of forest and subsequent erosion, the • New Zealand Government wild life division of the Department of Internal Affairs has just completed a North Island survey of the animals. A survey of the South Island will start soon.

The survey will show how fast opossums are spreading towards the west coast fiordland and will provide a lead to means of keeping them in check. Southland was the first province to introduce opossums. When they were introduced there it was thought that the bush would support them and that they would provide a rich fur industry. Because of fluctuations in the fur market, however, numbers continue to increase, in spite of trappings. On the West Coast, opossums are competing in a one-sided battle with bees, according to officers of the division in Wellington.

“With five-point suspension, opossums can climb to the outermost tips of branches,’’ one of them said. “On the West Coast they eat the buds of the rata before it flowers. This has caused a drop in honey production for local beekeepers, who have appealed to the division for aid.”

The present survey will show the worst infested areas in the South Island and provide a map for a future campaign against the pests.