Westland forests
Sir,—Ted Caldwell (March 1) is misleading the public with his statements about the white heron in Westland. Before he accuses people “who do not know what they are talking about” of interfering on the Coast he should get his own facts correct. This heron is in fact a native of New Zealand, having reached this country without aid of humans. The heron is not a scavenger. It is a predator, along with about 206 other bird species that feed on animals in New Zealand. The white heron’s diet consists mainly of fish and rarely other foods. “Rare whistling frogs,” about which Mr Caldwell is so concerned, were introduced from Australia and are now the most common South Islarid frog. The heron is not “rarely seen by anyone” but disperses' throughout New Zealand during winter. Mr Caldwell should undertake a basic ecology course before making statements on the subject—Yours, etc.,
COLIN F. J. O’DONNELL. ■ ' March 2, 1982.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19820304.2.97.8
Bibliographic details
Press, 4 March 1982, Page 16
Word Count
158Westland forests Press, 4 March 1982, Page 16
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.