Pests multiply on retired high country

Press, 15 July 1986, Page 12

Pests multiply on retired high country

By TESSA WARD Noxious animal numbers are increasing in the Cardrona ski-field are — in central Otago, according to the managing director of Cardrona Ski Area, Ltd and a local farmer, Mr John Lee.

Large numbers of hares had been shot in the area after it was found they they were grazing heavily on grass seed which was sown to help combat erosion, Mr Lee said recently. “Snow will provide some protection for our grass from grazing for a few months,” he said. “We estimate a 200 per cent incease in opossum numbers in the last four years. This winter a poisoning programme for opossums will be carried out at Cardrona and this should see the numbers reduced at least temporarily,” said Mr Lee. Red deer had returned to the area after some years and chamois had appeared for the first time, Mr Lee said. “With the commercial helicopter gone we will soon see deer in large numbers again. Pigs, unknown in the Cardrona Valley four years ago, are

being shot in increasing numbers,” he said. Mr Lee said that the main reason for the increase in the noxious animal populations was the retirement of the surrounding high country land.

‘Sheep and hares were competing for the grazing before removal of the sheep left a vacuum. The hares have filled this vacuum supported by the opossums, deer and pigs.” Mr Lee warned that simply protecting one aspect of the environment, such as the high country soils and vegetation from sheep grazing, would not work.

“Much deeper thought must go into the management of this country, its plant life and animals,” he said.

New Zealand’s varying rainfall, climate and flora and fauna meant that land management . policies needed to be flexible. “Those with a knowledge of Canterbury and Otago would agree that they face totally different problems yet the Government treats them as one.

“Land management policy must embrace the long-term realities of the

land and mankind’s changing needs and not Just the philosophical ideas of any special group,” he said. . “No plans have been formulated to handle the grazing by wild animals at critical times of plant life. There has been no provision of funds for the pest boards to control the noxious animals on the mountain lands.”

An Otago farmers’ representative on the Agricultural Pest Destruction Council, Mr Peter Gordon, confirmed that retirement of sheep from some high country areas in Otago had resulted in an increase in hares and opossums.

“I should add that the Cardrona ski Area has created a particularly ideal environment for hares by sowing the grass seed,” he said. Hares probably congregated on the grass from surrounding areas, said Mr Gordon.

“Opossum numbers tend to reflect the commercial viability of their skins from season to season and pest desruction efforts to control their numbers.

“Areas like the Cardrona ski area are less accessible for commercial opossum hunters so their numbers can build up, he said.

Mr Gordon said the deer population was unlikely to become a big problem at least for some time.

“In some of these Otago areas, pigs were liberated

illegally or without the knowledge of the appropriate authorities to provide a bit of sport The Forest service has killed quite a few pigs which is helping to control their numbers. “The council is worried about who is going to pay for the control of these noxious animals in the future with the decline of pest board funding. The farmers have looked after this matter pretty well for the last hundred years.” Pest boards felt strongly that the tax payer would have to pay for the control on unoccupied Crown land or land set aside for recreational purposes. Mr Gordon said that land managment policies had to be flexible enought to take into account regional geographic and climatic variations. “Local catchment boards often know the, land better than some powers in Wellington. But the boards don’t always get the say on land management decisions they would like to have,” he said.

Mr Gordon said that the Cardrona Ski Area development might have caused some erosive damage to the mountain side but it was localised.

“This damage is nothing compared to the damage that a build-up in noxious animal numbers can wreak on a much larger area of high country. The benefits of the new ski area far outweigh the environmental damage."