Anger at hunting proposal

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 2

Anger at hunting proposal

By

TOM METCALFE

A member of Parliament’s suggestion that commercial hunting of wild rabbits should be allowed, drew a swift and angry reaction from pest destruction board members meeting in Christchurch yesterday.

The Labour member for Tasman, Mr Ken Shirley, said there was no good reason why feral rabbit commercialisation should not be allowed in areas that had no acute rabbit problem. But South Island board representatives warned that commercialisation could add to problems in areas that were already suffering heavily. If rabbit commercialisation was modelled on opossum commercialisation, New Zealand farmland would become a desert within a few years, one delegate said. A motion for Mr Shirley, the convener of the

Government’s primary production, marketing and tourism committee, to be burned at the stake was later softened to a letter expressing the conference’s opposition to feral rabbit commercialisation and other proposals in his speech. In his speech, which had to be read to the conference because his flight could not land at Christchurch, Mr Shirley said commercialisation would not be allowed in areas that had an acute rabbit problem. He said he was aware that many at the conference who came from areas with severe rabbit problems would abhor the idea of allowing the sale of feral rabbit skins and meat. However, many people made an occupation of opossum hunting, or used it as an excuse to spend a few days in the bush and get a few dollars for their

efforts, he said. There were now many people in New Zealand with time on their hands who could hunt rabbits, and it was reasonable to allow them the same privilege that opossum hunters had. Further, some people had studied the matter and concluded they could make money hunting rabbits. “Why should we deny them the opportunity to test the market for skins?” he said. “Farmers would be very quick to resent any restriction on their capacity to respond to a perceived market opportunity.” Delegates feared commercialisation would lead to feral rabbit “farming” by hunters who would have an interest in keeping some rabbits alive to breed, rather than exterminating them. They said commercialisation of opossum skins had not affected the numbers of opossums, which were becoming a major problem because they spread bovine tuberculosis. Opossum trappers had been known to let opossums go when their furs were not up to standard, and not to hunt at all during years when opossum skins were fetching poor prices. Rabbit commercialisation was a way for the Government to duck its pest control responsibilities, and would lead to greater problems in areas that were already suffering heavily, . from rabbits.