KEAS AND DEER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20706, 2 May 1929, Page 13

KEAS AND DEER.

TO THE EDITOR. . . Sut, —The letters .of “ 5.,” “ High Country,” and "Interested ” add nothing to the kea _ controversy. Statements that' keas “kill hundreds of sheep in a few days” are- useless unless they can be proved. So far as Government officials have been able to discover-, no one has ever actually seen a kea kill a sheep. ■Descriptions such as that given by “ Interested ” of. the method of killing are obviously second-hand at least, and therefore' valueless from a scientific point' of view. The attitude . of. .the majority of bird students to the kea question is briefly as follows: 1. That a scientific - survey should ‘ be made by- competent, unbiassed men. , 2. If they conclude that keas kill sheep, then keas should be shot in affected districts- _ 3. Keaa in other districts should-’ be protected unless it is proved that such travel to sheep districts, and there kill sheep. 4. In any case, the general taxpayer should not be called on to pay for beaks. Bunholders would really- be serving their own interests by supporting such a scientific survey,. . _ ■ “ Sportsman,” in last--Monday's '.Times, is surely joking regarding the paradise duck and the deer. Eut bird lovers arc pleased to welcome him into the fold on behalf of the kea. If he would write to Box 631, Wellington, the iron, secretary of the Bird Protection Society would send him authoritative literature regarding the beneficial effects of our native birds, and the harm done by the • deer. If. also, he would look up some of the. reports of the State Forest Service He would find facts such as these:— 1. Deer in New Zealand numbered about 300,000 head in 1022. They have increased greatly since. 2. These deer in 1922 displaced sheep and cattle equivalent to .450,000 head of sheep. 3. Taking the revenue per sheep per annuum to be 10s (a low value), we have a direct loss due to deer of 1225,000 per annum. V 4. Deer do almost incalculable damage to the indigenous and exotic forests. _5. Deer do enormous damage in some districts to farm Crops. C. The value of deer to the public—really the acclimatisation societies —comprises an average of £1393 per annum at £2 per license. , 7. 0.0005 per cent, of the population of the Dominion takes part in the sport of deer stalking. The above facts should speak for themselves, but I can give “Sportsman” plenty more if he requires them.—l am, PUTANOITANGX. Dunedin, May 1.