DEER DESTRUCTION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 49, 26 August 1938, Page 10

DEER DESTRUCTION

REMOVING A MENACE

MEMBERS WANT ACTION

COST WARRANTED

Although one Opposition member questioned the value of the expenditure of £13,000 on deer destruction ! when the vote for the Internal Affairs Department was being discussed by the Committee of Supply in the House of Representatives today, several others argued that deer were so great a menace that even greater expenditure was justified to secure complete eradication. Mr. J. Hargest (National, Awarua) asked the Minister of Internal Affairs (the Hon. W. E. Parry) if the results being secured justified the expenditure. There were groups of men shooting deer for months at a time, and that appeared to him to be an expensive way of tackling the problem. The men engaged were keen and capable, but they had to face difficulties because of the nature of their operations. A group was sent into the Sounds country of Westland, and had to remain there until removed by a vessel. At first they might do good work, but the deer became wary and the last weeks of the stay were largely' wasted. The same applied to Stewart Island, where the heavily-wooded country gave the deer good cover. He 'suggested a bounty that could be earned by. men who knew the country and had better opportunities to secure good "bags." Mr. H. G. Dickie (National, Patea) said that he noticed £4000 of the expenditure had been recovered, and asked if that was from the sale of skins. OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. The destruction of deer was of such great national importance that double the present expenditure would be justified if the deer could be eliminated, declared Mr. K. J. Holyoake (National, Motueka). He considered a return of £4000 from skins was a good offset for the present expenditure. Was there any prospect of that amount being increased? he asked. . Mr. Parry said it depended on the number of skins that could be brought out to market and on the market price, which varied from time to time. Destruction of the undergrowth of the forest by deer led to erosion, Mr. Holyoake added, and as that caused a national loss no effort was too great to secure complete eradication. Mr. T. D. Burnett (National, Temuka) said the danger of destruction by deer, chamois, and thar could not be over-emphasised. He suggested "drives" in the mountain country so that the deer could be slaughtered in large numbers. The runholders, he said, would co-operate with the Department if "drives" were arranged. Apart from erosion these animals ate mountain flora and so were destroying one of New Zealand's great attractions for tourists. Mr. R. A. Wright (Independent, Wellington Suburbs) said sufficient expenditure was required to destroy the deer "root and branch." He compared present methods with the cutting of gorse without removing the roots. CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVE. The arduous and at times dangerous nature of the work of deer destruction was stressed by the Minister in his reply to the points raised. There was no question of the effectiveness of the campaign, he said, and he quoted the returns sent in by the parties employed. The organisation was being improved all the time. There was no better body of men in the Dominion than those engaged on the work under the leadership of Captain Yerex. It would never be possible to exterminate deer in New Zealand, but it should be possible to reduce their numbers to the point where the damage they caused would be the minimum.