BATTLER FOR BIRDS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 78, 14 March 1934, Page 5

BATTLER FOR BIRDS

New Zealand Jack Miner (By Leo Fanning.) Years ago Canada had a sportsman named Jack Miner. Never did John Peel ride more keenly to hounds than Miner went in quest of game, particularly water-fowl, which hus guns killed in thousands during some years. One day, when the fire-armed hunter was roaming aorosj country, a sudden wave of pity for the persecuted birds came upon him. He thought of himself as a monster waging one sided war against beautiful creatures. He felt that if he and other slaughterers persisted in their callous sport the game birds would be wholly wiped out. How could they survive against an ever-increas-ing use of firearms and other modern equipment in schemes of well-organised death-dealing and maiming? It was a new Jack Miner that went home that day. He put away his guns, and took up a new cause—the saving of birds. With wonderful energy and enthusiasm he fought for wild geese, ducks and other birds, and by his perseverance he made a very large number of Canadians turn from indifferent onlookers into champions of the birds. So nobly has Jack Miner striven in this field that Canadians regard him now as a heroic figure. When a paper with a big circulation recently took a vote on the question: “Who is the most popular Canadian?’’ the count showed Jack Miner in third place—a splendid achievement. By a remarkable coincidence, New Zealand’s leading battler for native birds was also a sportsman long ago. Captain E. V. Sanderson, president of the Native Bird Protection Society, has been called “the New Zealand Jack Miner.” Like tbe Canadian, he had a sudden change of heart, and from

being a keen killer he became a fervent saver. It is said that a convert to a faith is usually more zealous than a member born in that creed. Anybody who has knowledge of Captain Sanderson’s tireless service for this country’s birds would never imagine that there was a time when he shot at waterfowl. The knowledge of bird-life that he gained as a hunter he has turned to effective use as a protector. The birds are never out of his mind and heart. He is such a determined warrior on their behalf that he has been described by gunning critics as a “fanatic.” Some years ago they jeered at him, and declared that he would earn only ridicule for his labour —but he went on, and won. It is not many years since ho was truly “a voice in the wilderness,” but he resolutely declined to be discouraged. He believed firmly that the right of native birds would prevail against the might of selfish sport and so-called scientific “collecting,” and he has persuaded the great majority of New Zealanders that his belief is right. A society, which was formerly scouted as “a handful of agitators,” has become a strong power in the land, a power that is wisely used not only for the birds but for the conservation of forests which are a protection against destruction of very valuable surface soil, tie forests which are a necessary safeguard of farming country—forests which must be retained and carefully maintained to ensure New Zealand’s welfare.