THE KEA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20705, 1 May 1929, Page 6

THE KEA.

TO THE EDITOE, Sir, —In your issue of the 30th ult. your correspondent “ Taxpayer ” pleads for the preservation of the kea, on the ground that a settler who Uvea at the entrance tp the Copland Puss assured him that no kea in'that neighbourhood has even been known to kill a single sheep.” ■ bureiy the letter of the correspondent .will convince “Taxpayer” that in the high country in the Lake districts of Otago the kea destroys numbers of sheep., oome years ago X owned a large sheep run in the Lake country, 'and lost many sheep by the depredations of the kea. Certainly, all keas are not destroyers of sheep, but once a kea acquires a liking for the flesh of the sheep it will always attack sheep, and. unfortunately, will teach others to do the same. As a rule, the lion will not attack a man for the purpose of eating him, but once he acquires the taste it will eat nothing else. The wlho were in charge of the building of the Cape-Cairo railway state that in certain localities numbers of the Indian coolies whom they employed were in ope locality carried away and devoured by lions. In other localities the lions did not : nterfere with them. It is just the same with the kea. In some districts the keas may be harmless, but in the high country,in the Lake district they are a curse. They inflict a cruel, lingering death, and the sheep must suffer agony. Also, unfortunately, the sheep-killing kens delight to attatk their victims on dark, foggy nights, and are thus difficult to'shoot. Further, a ken which has acquired thiq habit becomes, like the man-eating lion and the man-eating tiger, very cunning and wary, and. difficult to got near. From the -point of view of the sheep owner, the only remedy is to kilt the kea when you get the chance. Otherwise there is a possibility of its becoming a sheep killer and doing a great deal Of harm. I can assure “Taxpayer” that 1 am a lover of our native birds, and trust they will never be exterminated. Ho can rest assured the kea will ncvei be exterminated It nests in inaccessible places, and," although kens were very numerous on the laud I held, none of the shepherds ever found a nest. If the Copland Valley settler •should ever acquire a high-country run in the Lake district be will form a different opinion about the keas.—l am. etc., High Country.

ro TUti EDITOR Slit,- —Why all this conjecture regarding the kea question? Some short time ago there were photographs slu vn in the Otago Witness of the kea engaged in its ghastly work of slowly torturing sheep. Should there remain any doubt, in the minds of townspeople as to whether the kea actually doc K kill, let me give a description of what occurs. The kea alights on the hack of its victim, commences behind the shoulders, rips open the hack to the tail, and eats the fat surrounding the kidneys; it works rapidly