OTAGO DEER HERDS

Evening Star, Issue 19062, 3 October 1925, Page 11

OTAGO DEER HERDS

PROPOSAL TO REMOVE PROTECTION ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY’S PROTEST. The Otago Acclimatisation Society has recently been somewhat perturbed in regard to a proposal to remove the protection on deer, especially with respect to the Hunter Valley and the Makarora deer forests, and a letter has been drafted by the president of the society (Mr C. P. M. Butterworth), in which strong objection is taken to the proposed course. Following are the principal portions of the letter which is to he forwarded" to the Minister of Internal AffairsIn view of the fact that the circumstances surrounding the deer herd in the Hunter and Makarora Valleys are m many respects different from those of other deer forests, the Otago Acclimatisation Society desires to bring under your notice certain facts which, in its opinion, go to show that the withdrawal of protection over the Hunter and- Makarora herd is not necessary, and if carried out wot) Id be a grave mistake and antagonistic to the best interests of the dominion. The deer herds in Otago for many years have produced remarkably fine specimens of Scotch deer heads. It is doubtful whether more perfect trophies of red deer have been found in any country in the world. To a large number of visitors from overseas the sport to be found in the Otago deer forests has been one of the outstanding attractions of New Zealand, and a great many_New Zealand stalkers have annually enjoyed _ excellent sport in this district. During the past ten years 837 licenses have been issued to stalkers, and as every stalker who goes into the country requires certain services from guides, packers, and transport, the continuance of the herd has its commercial value.

With the object of maintaining the high standard of head for which the herds in Otago are famed, the Otago Society has for many years carried on an annual culling. The expenditure on this score alone was, up to the end of the last culling period—viz., February 28 1925, £2,107. The programme of culling operations for the season 19251926 is on a larger scale than has ever been attempted. The number of deer to cull, for which contracts have been let, is 3,000, the cost of which will be £337, and will bring the total expenditure that has been made in deer culling up to £2,444, This sum is greater than the revenue which has been derived from deer licenses. The Government contribution so far has been only £278. When fixing the number to be culled this year the council of the Otago Acclimatisation Society increased the quantity from _ 2,000 to 3,000, so that the numbers killed will exceed the estimate of the natural increase of the herd. Provided the numbers culled and shot by stalkers are' greater than the natural growth of the herd, the position in every respect will be improved year by year. My council desires to point out that, apart from other considerations, the constant attention to and expenditure in the deer forest _ entitles the Otago deer herd to special consideration in respect of the proposal of the withdrawal of protection. If the removal of protection should take place in 1926 this society should be advised early, so that it may reconsider the question of expending the large sum or £330 on culling this year. The .reason which is advanced for the removal of protection of deer herds is chiefly that these animals do damage to the property .of the settlers. There are instances in Now Zealand where deer forests are surrounded by farms and damage is done by deer, but the circumstances in this respect in the Hunter and Makarora are totally different. There are only two settlers whose properties lie in the 'protected areas in the Hunter and Hawoa forests, and there are only three or four whose sheep runs are situated in the Makarora. None of these runholders do much cropping, and the damage that is done by deer to theii lands is not very great. In the district of the Otago Acclimatisation Society the chief complaints regarding deer come from those settlers whose properties _ He in the areas where the protection has been removed from deer. Very few of these runholders have made a determined effort to get rid of the deer. They carry out the work of poisoning rabbits partly because they are compelled to do so by law, but as there is no legislation respecting deer the efforts to destroy these animals are not systematic. If poisoning of deer, or destroying them in some way, were regulated In the same way ns rabbit poisoning is done there would be very row, if any, complaints regarding depredations or deer. My council feels that the surroundings of the Hunter and Makarora are such that a herd of red deer can be maintained there, which will be a valuable asset to the dominion in time to come. The country which the doer occupy, although rough and high, i« so situated that the herd can be culled and subjected to supervision. In some districts it is proposed to withdraw protection during part of the year and reinstate it during the stalking season, probably March and April. In the opinion of my council, this half-and-half measure should not he adopted for the Hunter and Makarora. The indiscriminate shooting which would lake place during the months when there is no protection over the herd would not result in the destruction of nearly as many deer as are now being culled by this society. It would mean the destruction of young stags and hinds, and strong animals ns well as weakly ones, the natural result of which would ho a gradual deterioration in the standard of the head grown by the herd.#