Deerstalkers oppose thar in erosion areas

Press, 28 July 1976, Page 11

Deerstalkers oppose thar in erosion areas

Himalayan than should not be retained in a'-eas endangered by soil erosion, an executive member of the Deerstalkers’ Association (Mr H. W. Egan) said. “We will not support the retention of thar on critically eroding areas,’’ Mr Egan said, "but neither will we support the blanket extermination of any game animal.” Mr Egan said it was unfair for some proponents of extermination to label major portions of the Alps as critical areas unsuitable for thar. ‘‘More investigation is needed,” he said. “We were pleased to hear that the Government is planning a survey of vegetation in the Clyde and Havelock river areas.” However, there was a limit to the financial and manpower resources of the association. Mr Egan suggested that sportsmen play a part in research by making their own investigations, and noted that the association had published the first thar study in 1961. “The Government has at last recognised the ‘social value of recreational hunting as a sport.’ All that is needed to preserve thar is to determine what areas are suitable for their habitat.” he said. Mr Egan spoke in response to an editorial in ‘‘The Press” on July 22,

which urged the Deerstalkers’ Association to sponsor and pursue studies on the animal, rather than whip up public feeling with a “Save the thar petition.” The Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council has strongly supported the Catchment Authority Association’s extermination policy. The council’s chairman (Mr L. Poole) described the catchment authorities’ stand as “entirely justified.” “We agree that the only sensible policy is extermination. Control, or so-called management of thar herds, is not enough,” Mr Poole said. “Thar occupy’ very steep, high country where the vegetative balance is

at its most delicate. Considerable damage with resaltant high cost to the nation has already occurred.” he said. “The only safe level of noxious animals on eroded high country is nil, and extermination is the only practical policy. “It has been found in the past that spasmodic and fluctuating shooting has indeed led to population surges, leading eventually to even greater damage titan would have occurred had no control at all been attempted. Mr Poole noted that thar often had multiple births, unlike deer or chamois, resulting in rapid population growth. This had led to an undesirable amount of damage, which

had not been affected by sporadic shooting by sportsmen. “A combined policy of the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority, the Department of Lands and Survey, and the N.Z. Forest Service states that soil conservation and water management are of absolute priority in the high country, and that secondary uses of such land must be compatible with these objectives,” Mr Poole said. “In view of this, it is our belief that a sensible policy would aim at the extermination of thar, and recognise that deerstalkers’ and tourist safari interests are ■ not compatible with this objective.”