MENACE OF WILD DOGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21160, 18 April 1932, Page 11

MENACE OF WILD DOGS.

INCREASING IN FIJI.

DANGER AND NUISANCE

[from our own correspondent.] SUVA, April 30. At Ta ma.sua Island in t.ho Yasawa Group wild dogs which have become very savage in their habits are becoming a nuisance and a danger, reports a planter from that district. So much so that it is not considered safe for children to wander far from their villages, so bold and venturesome are these animals becoming.

It is reported that the wild dogs are rapidly increasing in number and it is said that bands of them have attacked and eaten goats, pigs and tame dogs. On one occasion they were observed attacking a turtle which was working its way up on the sand for the purpose of laying eggs. The turtle was instantly torn to pieces.

It is stated that having ranged the bush for food these animals are now coming into the native towns and destroying poultry and pigs kept within the village compounds emphasising the need for an organised drive against them. To a minor extent trouble is also being caused on the outskirts of Suva by Ihe depredations of semi-wild dogs which apparently have neither names nor owners. Although creating damage to gardens and in poultry yards they do not, of course, present the same problem as the animals in the scattered districts which in many instances have become completely wild. Government action against these animals is being called for in some districts.