Cattle from France

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32862, 10 March 1972, Page 13

Cattle from France

■ The first shipment of J exotic cattle from France > entered the Department of ‘ Agriculture’s Somes Island ’ maximum security quarantine complex this week. The 30 bulls, aboard the P and O ship Westmorland, were air-lifted to the complex from the ship by an R.N.Z.A.F. Iroquois helicopter, so that they did not set •’ foot on New Zealand soil • before entering the quaran-

tine station. i The Air Force came to the • rescue when the department > was seeking a fast, efficient, safe method of transferring the cattle, averaging 7501 b * each, and travelling in 13001 b crates, from the ship

to the quarantine complex. • The accompanying photo- « graph shows a helicopter i lifting a payload of more > than 20001 b from the ship * this week.

The R.N.Z.A.F. dubbed J this job “Operation Bull- . ship.” ‘ The cattle included 10

• Blond d’Aquitaine, nine • Limousin, seven Pie Rouge • or French Simmental, and • four Maine Anjou. • Although the bulls have ’ remained healthy during the - voyage and have already undergone almost three months of isolation and test- - ing in quarantine in France, ' strict security measures Z were in force during their • transfer from the ship to

* the complex. Special arrangements 2-were made with the Wellington Watersiders’ Union, » who gave their full co-

operation to the operation. Watersiders assisting with the off-loading were provided with special protective clothing and showered and changed their clothes before leaving the ship after the job was finished.

When the last of the cattle were removed from the ship, the area of deck where the crates were stowed was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected under strict veterinary supervision.

The entire operation was supervised by officers of the Animal Health Division of the Department of Agriculture.

Under the supervision of the superintendent of the department’s quarantine services, Mr D. J. Collyns, the cattle were extensively tested during a 28-day isolation period on farms in France. Then followed almost two months of quarantine in Brest and another 30 days of virtual quarantine aboard the ship.

The cattle will now undergo another period of quarantine, extending over several months, under maximum security conditions in the complex on Somes Island. There they will be examined daily and will live with disease-free control stock. Transmission tests for foot and mouth disease will also be carried out inside the complex, using New Zealand-bred, disease-free pigs. The average age of the animals is about 11 months.

They were selected at three to four months of age. The cattle were selected in France by Dr Alan Carter, geneticist at Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre, who will be in charge of the long-term crossbreeding programme to be carried out by the department. “The established breeds have served us very well, and they will continue to do so as far as I can see,” says the Director-General of Agriculture, Dr A. T. Johns. “There is no likelihood of completely supplanting them. Initially, they will be crossed with the best of the exotic breeds to produce crossbreds with, we hope, the best characteristics of both. However, these will have to be superior to the best of our established breeds to find a place in New Zealand agriculture. “In terms of a meatproducing industry, as distinct from a livestockbreeding industry, we would hope to gain from the hybrid vigour and growth characteristics of these crossbred stock.”