Partridges Found Dead Near Poison Line

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31782, 12 September 1968, Page 16

Partridges Found Dead Near Poison Line

The North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society’s game committee has written to the Department of Internal Affairs expressing concern at the amount of destruction caused through the use of insecticides and poisons.

The committee’s chairman, Mr G. Mugford, reporting to the sodety’s council meeting last evening, said that association officers three nights ago found a six to eight-week-old furrow in the Selwyn riverbed when out looking for partridge—with the remains of a partridge nearby, and the decomposed bodies of three more found under a bush a short distance away.

But the society had received no report of birds being killed along poison lines. “Our birds are so well trained that they get away under a bush. I wouldn’t say rabbit-board staff put them there,” Mr Mugforu said. “This was a good thing in a way,” he said. "It showed partridges were about, but I wonder how long we can go on breeding them so that they can be poisoned. It would be a lot of help if we were told about proposed poison lines —then we could flush the birds.” The decomposed partridges were being held in a freezer for possible examination. Chinook Salmon The society’s fish committee was perfectly happy about the experimental work the Marine Department was to carry out at Isaac’s ponds, Mr G. Ferris told the council. The committee had met Mr C. J. Hardy, of the Marine Department, who had explained the proposed develop-

ment of a research station at the property, and the work to be done with Chinook salmon.

“There’s now nothing secret about it,” Mr Ferris said. Mr Isaacs would develop the property, and then hand it over to the department, which would hold the property and pay a rental on it for a 10year period. At the end of that time, the property would revert to Mr Isaacs. Increase In Licences

The Acclimatisation Society in' the financial year just

ended, issued a total of 14,970 game and fishing licences. This was an increase of 1653 on the total licences issued the previous year. The last financial year, men’s fishing licences totalled 6328, compared with 6009 in the previous year. Ladies’ licences totalled 743 (715) and junior licences, 4357 (3839). There were 597 weeklylicences issued for men, and 67 for women. Game licences issued totalled 2848 (2724).