NEW ZEALAND BIRDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18764, 18 January 1923, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND BIRDS

RAPID EXTERMINATION. (Pep. United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, January 17. Now Zealand birds, said Mr J. G. Myers in a pajxir which was rend to the .Science Congress, form the dissipated remnant of the most interesting avifauna of tiio earth. For 40 years their history has been disappearance and extermination. Extermination was proceeding rapidly even in 1896. The introduction of rabbits, followed by the stoats, ferrets, and weasels, had a deadly effect on indigenous birds. The detraction of forests and some inexplicable disappearances such as that of the Kakauo seemed to point to an inevitable total extinction of all land birds. The most authoritative predictions on these lines are now being largely disproved. If Fir Walter Bailors statistics (ISOS) are correct eight endemic species have either increased in one or more localities, or appeared whore they were hitherto unknown, five have definitely decreased since 1905, and 30 are obviously maintaining (hoiv ground. Four species were extinct long before 1905, chiefly through fires and collectors. Of the remaining 18 endemic species there is insufficient evidence on which to express an opinion. The speaker was of the opinion that many of the more highly specialised species would survive in sanctuaries if properly protected. The old Maoris, said Mr Myers, had a thorough system of bird protection. They supplied food to the birds which were vigorously watched and used only in moderation. A certain number only was permitted to bo taken, whether for food or feathers, and permission had always to ho obtained. Under the Maori system none of the rare birds would have become extinct. To-day the Maori was following the white precedents and was the worst offender in the slaughter of pigeons and kakas.