Mana sheep flock to be slaughtered

Press, 26 July 1978, Page 1

Mana sheep flock to be slaughtered

PA Wellington The exotic sheep flock on Mana Island, near Wellington, in which the disease scrapie has been diagnosed, will be slaughtered and buried next week. The fate of the sheep was announced yesterday bv the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Maclntyre). The decision to kill and bury the sheep after the discovery of scrapie had been delayed only by the problems of disposing of the 2000 carcases, he said. Earthmoving gear would go to the island to dig a 200 to 300-cubic metre trench. This required a barge which, depending on

the weather, should be available by the end of this week, said Mr Maclntyre. Preparing the trench is expected to take two days, and slaughter and burial a further two or three days. A disposal team of 16 officers from the Ministry’s Animal Health Division had been selected and put on standby. Each of the 2000 Finnish Landrace. German Whiteheaded Mutton and Oxford Downs sheep would be identified positively by its ear-tags and bodytattoos, and checked off against a master list. All the carcases would be covered by about 2.4 metres of earth, and pre-

cautions taken to ensure that the ground and surrounding area were left undisturbed.

Mr Maclntyre said burial had been agreed on because it was impractical to bum so many carcases. Arrangements were being made for the world expert on scrapie, Dr J. T. Stamp, to visit New Zealand soon after August 7. Dr Stamp might well recommend the destruction of all 5000 sheep at Crater block, near Rotorua, so the Ministry was making preparations. There would be no delay once Dr Stamp had given his opinion, Mr Maclntyre said.