THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY "Public Service" FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1950 A MENACE TO OUR BUSH

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 59, Issue 4253, 10 March 1950, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY "Public Service" FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1950 A MENACE TO OUR BUSH

TJhe menace to nature bush from the destructive activities of imported animals is incrffiMl®.’ and the damage done by deer, opossums, goats and such like is causing considerable concern not only in many parts of New Zealand but has created anxiety amongst members of the Hauraki County Council who are alive to the effect of the depredations of both goats and opossums in the coundl’s watershed area on the Colville range. The destructive work of these pests - never ceases and it is only now and then that we become aware 1 of thq real damage done. By barking of trees and eating of the foliage the bush is slowly killed, whilst at the same time the natural regeneration of the forest, which is so desirable, is completely stopped. Areas where these pests operate soon become most vulnerable to fire and so the menace to our forests becomes magnified. In some parts of the Dominion the depredations of the dfer have already had serious consequences. During the war period it was not possible to keep their numbers down but in> the Hauraki and Coromandel areas the agents of destruction are the opossum and the goat. Wisdom demands that concerted action be taken without delay to deal with the threat to our native bush the existence and preservation of which is of such importance and has considerable influence on rainfall and the availability of the very necessary water supply upon which the farming of the Hauraki Plains is so dependent. As often happens in the sphere of natural life the imported ani-' mal has found in New Zealand! conditions conducive to its increase more favourable than those of its original habitat. New Zealand 'bush has been found by the goat and the opossum to be a sort of paradise with an abundance of food. There with little disturbance they breed and multiply and carry on their work of devastation. It is hardly possible to eradicate these pests completely but it has become imperative that their numbers be heavily reduced so as' to arrest their work of despoliation.