Forest Conservation and Opossums

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 August 1946, Page 6

Forest Conservation and Opossums

[TO THE EDITOR.] Sir,—lt is gratifying to know that the Greymouth Acclimatisation Society is concerned to reduce the number of opossums in our Westland forests. The methods approved by the society to reach this desideratum are less than satisfying. That the importation of more choice grades of these animals will cause the opossum population to decrease by reason of a better price being then available is to me an involved and tortuous type of reasoning. In the light of experiences we have" had in the past, one can be pardoned for not taking it seriously. I have tried to figure it out and have concluded that as a contribution thought on the problem it is negligible. The thesis of my pamphlet, “Behold Your Native Forests,” was forest conservation with a view to natural regeneration, forests for ever with true forestry and sawmilling working in double harness as a team. No conservation plan on these lines is possible if we ever accept the presence of opossums or any other foreign foes of the forest —the eradication of these vermin is the sine qua non of a correct conservation policy. I proposed as a very first step in conservation and regeneration plans a war of extermination against all vermin enemies of the bush. One of these enemies, and perhaps the chief, is the opossum. Year in and year out, these marsupials feed on the leaf and flower buds of all natural, bush trees with a strong preference for rata, of which the choicest morsel is the nutty base of the adult full bloom. The veteran ratas whose _ scarlet sashes and shawls sweep the ridges of our hills are now feeling the need for reinforcements. These reinforcements can come only from young trees and seedlings developed from fresh seeds. Therefore if strong reserve forces are not ready to bring support, the death of the now veteran ratas means the end of the rata race in our mountains, hills and valleys. We can’t haye it both ways, notwithstanding the Greymouth Acclimatisation Society and its quaint solution of a very nasty national problem, heavily emphasised here on the West Coast where our future might be great and good in close association with our forests. Though the final and absolute extinction of our mountain rata may be delayed, it cannot withstand forever the onslaughts of its relentless foreign fpes—deer, opossum etc. The Acclimatisation Society’s plea, that planned opossum farming in our bush through imported best-blood strains in smoky blues etc., or what have you will be causing skin prices to rise and lead to a reduction in the opossum population, is startling in its naivete and non-comprehension of conservation. —Yours, etc. . E. L. KEHOE. Greymouth, August 9.