THE KEA “MENACE"

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 11 September 1937, Page 9

THE KEA “MENACE"

POPULAR THEORIES DISCOUNTED! ALLEGATIONS ABOUT MOUNT COOK AREA Some of the tales told about keas were discredited by Mr R. L. Wigley, managing director of the Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company, Lid., who, in an interview with “The Press,” replied to the statement made by Mr J. Ritchie, of Bannockburn, at the recent conference of the New Zealand Counties’ Association in Wellington, that the Government was wrong in allowing the keas at Mount Cook to be protected. As was reported the conference decided to ask the Government to combat the “kea menace” in the Mount Cook area. Mr Ritchie knew little of the conditions in the district, said Mr Wigley. Some years ago certain counties got permission from the Government to send two men to shoot out the keas near the Hermitage; but he had asked the men to leave the Ball Hut area alone. After several days the men shot, he thought, three keas, and these men were supposed to •be experts. They put in a claim for damages (misrepresentation of contract), and it cost the Government £7O. It would be difficult to find any but a very odd kea away from the Ball Hut, Mr Wigley added, and those at the hut hurt no one. They lived on the refuse and did not leave the hut. On some of his land at the head of Lake Ohau the keas had caused considerable trouble and he had suffered losses. On one occasion he had bought 20 valuable halfbred sheep from Parnasus. The keas killed eight in the first two weeks. The annual loss among flock sheep was heavy, so it could be seen he was no lover of keas, he explained. “But why all this cry Out for Government help?” he asked. “Every runholder knows or should know his responsibility when he takes up his country, and he can, if he wishes, deal with the kea menace, and it is not a very big problem if gone about in the right way. We and others have settled the kea by shooting and poisoning—and without much trouble. “The tale of keas and kidney and kidney fat is all rot,” he added. "Put a kea in a cage and he will die if,fed on kidney fat. Over the kidneys is the natural place for kea to sit on a sheep's back, hence the tale. All keas arc not killers. Yon will mostly find the killer on a spur; but the rest will all feed on a dead .sheep. You will find keas on different adjoining spurs tackling sheep in different ways which goes to show that keas do not move off their own country to kill. Some say they travel miles from their haunts to kill. From my experience this is definitely wrong. “Away from the Ball Hut I doubt very much if a dozen keas could be shot in a month on the 100,000 acres we lease from the Government,” he said. He could not understand Mr Ritchie rushing into what he knew little about. Mr Wigley’s summary of the kea was “a ‘dirty dog,' clever, but a lovable old bird.”