Animal Policy 'Extremist'

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30406, 3 April 1964, Page 3

Animal Policy 'Extremist'

(HZ. Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 2.

The New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association, in submissions to a working party of the Agricultural Development Conference, has attacked what it calls “extremist, wasteful, unscientific and untamable” objectives for noxious animal control. Presented by a national executive member, Mr J. B. Henderson, the submissions say New Zealanders should be highly suspicious of this country’s philosophy and policy on noxious animals. They claim the New Zealand attitude is unique, and for New Zealanders to think naively that they were leading the world in a new approach to a no-loss economy might turn out to be “expensive and pathetic selfdelusion.

“Neither legislation nor a

hate campaign will solve conservation problems, and we frankly wonder at the mentality of those responsible, for example, for the inauguration by the Post Office of a cancelling stamp that reads: ‘Rabbits are ruin—kill them.’ “At the very foundation of the policy is the concept of the ‘last rabbit’ and because of such confident predictions, the whole tottering framework of the policy is being shored up on a year-to-year basis. Time of Appraisal “At a stage in the development of our economy where we are being forced into a serious appraisal of agricultural practices and products’ it would appear to be foolish to cling to extremist, wasteful, unscientific and unattainable objectives.

“Will the Government refuse to allow or fail to assist the sale of wild animal products overseas? Will loss of administrative ‘face’ prevent us from marketing rabbit and goat meat when these and other wild meats sell at considerably higher

prices than our lamb and beef?”

Many farmers owned large areas of first-class goat country which would not economically support sheep or cattle, Mr Henderson said. He told a reporter that the noxious animals and weeds working party of the conference had refused to hear oral submissions dealing with a paper on rabbit control by

Dr. W. E. Howard, an American zoologist now in New Zealand to assist the Government in noxious animal control. His association did not want deer and other noxious animals left completely alone, Mr Henderson said. It supported a policy of control, leaving a low number of deer where they would do the least harm.