KILLING OF OPOSSUMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19144, 9 October 1925, Page 12

KILLING OF OPOSSUMS.

POISONING IN VICTORIA, WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION. EFFORT TO CHECK PRACTICE. Illicit killing of opossums in Victoria has reached such serious proportions that unless action is taken without delay to check the slaughter opossums will be threatened with extermination in a few years, says the Melbourne Argus. The s destruction is probably more serious than j it was in the time of depression which followed the land boom more than 30 years ago. At that period hundreds of young men who had lost their employment because of financial disasters in Melbourne formed themselves into bands and tided j themselves over the period of distress by ] hunting in the country. The result was that opossums disap- j peared from many parts of Victoria. At J that time, however, skins were worth I cniy about £3 a dozen, and the hunters i did not make a regular business of opos- j sum killing. Now the ruling price is j £S a dozen, and such rates have led to J the formation of permanent, well- , equipped bands of opossum-killers. They i destroy thousands of animals monthly, ■ principally by the use of poison. Perfectly acquainted with the move- • ments of the police and the game inspectors in the districts in which they operate, these bands can carry on their unlawful business almost with immunity. They find a ready market lor the skins in Melbourne with those who make a profitable business by collecting skins and passing them out of the country, The present inadequate : system of skin supervision affords many opportunities for this traffic. By set- : ting aside a trifling amount from the proceeds of each transaction, both the hunters and the collectors are able to indemnify themselves against the paltry penalties they incur on the rare occasions on which they are detected. Dangers of Poisoning. Apart from the fact that one of the most interesting of Australian animals is threatened with extermination by the illicit poisoning now proceeding, thousands of pounds' worth of stock have been destroyed in recent years by baits laid for opossums. The usual practice of poisoners is to place apples and other fruit, poisoned with potassium cyanide, at the foot of trees in the evening. They reI torn in the morning to collect the dead opossums. j No attempt is made to p,-event other i animals taking the baits, and they are i frequently picked up by horses and cows, i In many cases the owners of stock killed !in this way do not realise the cause. As \ a result the destruction of stock is far ! more extensive than records show. Lately j baits, consisting of poisoned raisins, have j been placed in trees. While this method | of killing has provided a measure of pro's tection to stock, it his caused the de- ] struction of thousands of native birds, almost entirely insectivorous in their diet. ! The Fisheries and Game Department has ! done praiseworthy work in attempting to | check opossum poisoning, but' it has been i hampered by the inadequate legislation, i which has made it almost impossible to | obtain convictions unless offenders are j caught ndhanded. If amendments to the Game Laws now before the Legislative Assembly are passed they will greatly inj crease the powers of the department and assist materially in reducing the destrucj tion of opossums. They provide greatly j increased penalties both for illegal killing j and for being found in possession of skins, j and they provide imprisonment without j the option of a fine for the destruction of | opossums by poisoning. Powers to arrest | persons found destroying opossums, and | greater powers of search for unbranded | skins are also conferred upon the departj ment in the amending bill Provision for Penalties. It is thought that the penalties provided j will have a valuable effect in reducing killing. It is considered, however, thateven greater safeguards should be provided. Dr. J. A. Leach, who for many years has studied the protection of Australian animals and birds, suggests that a royalty should be charged on all skins exported This, in addition to producing a considerable annual revenue, would make an inspection necessary, so that attempts to export skins obtained by illegal killi ig would be detected immediately.. Commenting recently on the illegal destruction of opossums, Sir James Barrett made suggestions that there should be ! provision for the establishment of opos- | sum farms in forest areas in Victoria. | He pointed out that by this means much j land" which would be valueless for other ! purposes could be made to support a ! valuable industry, and a use could also I be provided for forest areas while timber I was growing. i The establishment of properly managed opossum farms in Victoria would provide an industry at least as valuable as that of the ostrich farms in South Africa, and it | would automatically provide a safeguard ! against extermination, because once an i opossum skin industry was established on j a business basis it would be imperative for the maintenance of the industry that the numbers of opossums in the country should be kept np. Killing would be car- | ried on in a properly organised manner j subject to constant supervision, and the haphazard methods of unregulated destruction now employed would bo abolished. A Check on Poachers. The proprietors of the opossum farms, it is believed, could be trusted to detect poachers and bring them to justice, and the stimulus of a personal interest would j undoubtedly make for much keener atten- | tion to poaching than is now provided. I Moreover, the number of skins taken annually would be easily determined and would provide an indication of the number of opossums In the State. Thus if it were found that the numbers of skins obtained in any one year fell below the average, it would" indicate fairly clearly that for some reason the number of opossums in | the farm areas was below normal, a state of affairs which could immediately be corI rected by limiting the numbers to be killed in" the following years. ! Dr. Leach joins with Sir James Barrett in supporting the establishment of opos- | sum farms. He points out that farms have already been established in Tasmania, and I as far" as can be ascertained the system is giving good results.