THE KEA "MENACE"

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 62, 10 September 1937, Page 11

THE KEA "MENACE"

THEORIES DISCOUNTED

Some of the tales told about keas were discredited by Mr. R. L. Wigley, managing director of the Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company, Ltd., who, in an interview with the "Press" on Wednesday, replied.to the statement made by Mr. J. Ritchie, of Bannockburn, at the recent conference of the New Zealand Counties' Association in Wellington, that the Government was wrong in allowing the keas at Mount Cook to be protected: As was reported in the "Press," the conference decided to ask the Government to combat the "kea menace" in the Mount Cook area.

Mr. Ritchie knew little of the conditions in the district, said Mr. Wigley. Some years ago certain counties got permission from the Government to send two men to shoot out the keas near the Hermitage, but he had asked the men to leave the Ball Hut area alone. After several days the men shot, he thought, three keas, and these men were supposed to be experts. They put in a claim for damages (misrepresentation of contract), and it cost the Government £70.

"It would be difficult to find any but a very old kea away from the Ball Hut, Mr. Wigley added, and those at the hut hurt no pnet They lived on tile-refuse/and did not' leave the hut. On some of his land at the head of Lake Ohau the keas had caused considerable trouble, and he had suffered losses. On one occasion he had bought 20 valuable halfbred sheep from Parnassus. . The keas killed eight in the first two weeks. The annual loss among flock sheep was heavy, so it could be seen he was no lover of keas, he explained. "But why all this cry out for Government help?" he asked. "Every runholder knows or should know his responsibility when he takes up his country, and he can, if he wishes, deal with the kea menace, and it is not a very big problem if gone about in the right way. We and others have settled the kea by shooting and poisoning— and without much trouble.

"The tale of keas and kidney and kidney fat is all rot," he added. "Put a kea in a cage and he will die if fed on kidney fat. Over the kidneys is the natural place for a kea to sit on a sheep's back, hence, the tale. All keas are not killers. You will mostly find the killer on a spur, but the rest will all feed on a dead sheep. You will find keas on different adjoining spurs tackling sheep in different ways, wnich goes to show that keas do not move off their own country to kill. Some say they travel miles from their haunts to kill. From my experience this is definitely wrong.

"Away from the Ball Hut I doubt very much if a dozen keas could be shot in a month on the 100,000 acres we lease from the Government," he said. He could not understand ■ Mr. Ritchie rushing into what he knew little about.

Mr. Wigley's summary of the kea was "a 'dirty dog,' clever, but a lovable old bird."