Canterbury Sheep Now In Fiji

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30901, 6 November 1965, Page 10

Canterbury Sheep Now In Fiji

Sheep imported into Fiji from Canterbury a few months ago appear to like their new conditions and are healthy and growing well, according to Mi- J. L. Baker, a Christ-church-born man who is chief veterinary officer of the Department of Agriculture in Fiji.

Writing in the “Fiji Farmer” about a possible new livestock industry for the dryer areas, Mr Baker says:— “At various times in the past there have been quite a large number of sheep in Fiji but for one reason or another most of them died out. There is very little accurate knowledge why sheep numbers were so reduced as most of the people who were associated with them have either left the Colony or have died. Various guesses have been made as to the reasons and the most credible of these are that management was not all it should have been, that they were killed by wild dogs and perhaps pigs, that some at least were stolen and eaten and lastly that low prices during the depression of the 1930’s made them unprofitable. “There does not seem to be any good evidence that sheep died out because of disease or because they did not thrive on the grasses or in the climate here, or because they would not breed adequately. “At various- times small numbers were imported and they then multiplied, at one stage up to about 12,000, but the numbers later declined. My own view is that this was due almost entirely to the wrong type of management in that they were run on large areas either not fenced or at best inadequately fenced and only mustered at rare intervals. Decision “Taking into account all the past knowledge it was possible to gather and also considering the great advances that have been made in sheep husbandry in other countries and the present high value of sheep, it was decided last year that it would be worthwhile to try again to get sheep permanently established in the Colony. There are many thousands of acres of land in the dry zones of both the main islands that look extremely suitable for sheep and not so suitable for cattle. That same land is, of course, suitable for goats but the return per acre from goats is not likely to be nearly so high as it would be from sheep. Thus it was thought worthwhile to establish a sheep experimental farm on some of this country with the idea of finding out as much as possible about rearing, breeding and looking after sheep in the Colony so that if they are successful other people can be encouraged also to keep them.

“An area south-east of Nandi has been reserved for this experiment and some 400 acres are being used immediately with the idea that if the experiment is successful more land will be used as the sheep numbers increase. “This is not the first introduction in recent times as a couple of years ago 50 ewes and two rams were imported by a planter in Bua Bay. These are surviving and thriving on land similar to that chosen for the experimental farm, but they are be-

ing run commercially and not experimentally as the Government flock will be.

“The experimental side of the project is the most important at present as it is essential to find the type of sheep that will be most suited to Fiji conditions and for this reason as wide a range of sheep types as possible were imported. “These had to be from New Zealand or Australia for disease prevention reasons and New Zealand was chosen as sheep are not so expensive there.

“In all 160 Corriedale and 90 halfbred Merino-Lincoln and Merino-Leicester ewes were imported with 12 rams, some of each breed. These ewes will be watched for wool pro-

duction and quality and for breeding rate and their progeny will be watched particularly for hardiness and production. “As time goes on it should be possible to pick out from the wide range imported a type which suits local conditions and emphasis will be placed on these to the exclusion of less productive types. This may take some years and in fact it will be a continuing process for evermore as it is in other sheep producing countries.

“The hopes for the future are. that as more sheep are kept so we will be able to reduce the imports of mutton from overseas and in addition we will be able to build up an export trade in wool,

for which there is likely to be a good demand for many years to come. “It may even be possible to build up a local industry for the home spinning, of wool for local needs and possibly for export. There is a very high demand in the world for home spun wool and it is not a hard craft to learn. “So far the latest imports have only been here for six months but indications are that they like conditions here as they are growing well and are healthy. There have been odd deaths but that is inevitable in any sheep flock anywhere and on the whole the project looks encouraging at present. Future progress will be closely watched with extreme interest."