WILD-LIFE PROBLEMS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20930, 21 January 1930, Page 5

WILD-LIFE PROBLEMS.

ATTITUDE OF SOCIETIES. . PRESSING DEER MENACE, i;' Written for the Otago Daily Times.. , By Masiaku. 111. The actions of the various acclimatisation societies in recommending restricted seasons for the shooting of deer and ‘ in several cases of • actually balloting for blocks at. high fees for the shooting of red deer, moose, and wapiti, chamois and thar, and of the Internal Affairs Department in saying ditto te them, all speak eloquently as to the attitude of the present “ authorities ” in helping to control the’deer menace, and must prove not a little embarrassing to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Commissibner of State Forests next season when they are reminded of their assurances during the session of 1929. They, however, only present one phase of the question of wild life control, or, rather, lack of it, which is rapidly coming to be one of the most vital economic, and, therefore,, political issues before the country. Other - aspects are arising almost daily. DO NOT WANT IT "DISTURBED.” The representatives of 29 different acclimatisation societies met in Wellington in September last, and, for some reason not disclosed at the time, went into committee to consider the most important question of all—that of unity of control v. divided control. Subsequently, as a result of this secret conclave, it was announced that the following resolution had been adopted unanimously:— That in the opinion of this conference unity of control is not practicable; the control exercised by the Department of Interna] Affairs in the administration of the Animals Protection and Game Act has been wisely exercised, and should not be disturbed. This department, before coming to a final decision, safeguards so far as is practicable the interests of all parties concerned, and its administration has been satisfactory, having regard to the economic as well as the aesthetic side. This conference is-therefore strongly of the opinion that the Department of Internal Affars is the proper department to continue to exercise such control.

In the light of the facts already disclosed, particularly of the "sixes and sevens" state of affairs revealed in the opening article of this series, the terms of this resolution will he viewed with no small 'degree of astonishment, but, of course,.there is a reason for, it. The Department of Internal Affairs and the acclimatisation societies not only work in together, but the acclimatisation societies, through this association, also receive very considerable monetary benefits and privileges. That this is so is evidenced in the following amounts received in license fees by five different acclimatisation societes during the year ended March 31, 1929: — Fishing. Shooting. Opossum.

The revenue derived by each .'of these five societies from deer licenses has already been shown. Whether in view of their action in spending 60 little in culling they are entitled to any portion of such revenue few people would admit, but they clearly have .a right to all revenue derived from fishing licenses, and also to that for the shooting of feathered game introduced, but not to anythingat all. for the shooting of native birds, such as ducks, which they did not "acclimatise." But what right have they to receive any of the opossum revenue and such a large proportion of it at that? The_ fact that have been acclimatised does not entitle them to receive any revenue from that source any more than from wool because, sheep have.been introduced into the country. The opossums live entirely on the vegetation of the forests, and if any revenue is derivable from them it should clearly go to the State, which is responsible ' for the upkeep and development of the forests, not to the acclimatisation societies, which do nothing, eiher for the forests or the opossums* -.',..

“ A PROFITABLE ARRANGEMENT.” Obviously, when such a profitable arrangement exists with - the Internal Affairs Department the acclimatisation societies do not wish to- see it “ disturbed.” It would be unnatural to expect them to do so, especially when ‘an examination of the balance sheets of these five societies shows that under the present system, of. “ divided control ” they have been able to amass no less than £22,549 in the form of cash and interestbearing securities, apart, altogether from their other, assets, which are very considerable. But the real question is, not whether this is in the interests of the acclimatisation societies, but whether it is in the interest of the country?- ■ We have seen lately whither this policy °f divided control has been trending.-bn the deer question. While the Internal “P a ?rs Department has been. fanning, distributing, and protecting deer;, for the benefit the acclimatisation societies, which, incidentally, also received all the revenue, it was left to the State Forest Service- in ■ 1922 to reveal the menace which was developing. The Internal Affairs Department answered this by inaugurating a policy of culling, paying 2s and Is per tail for deer culled in’.unprotected and protected areas respectively, and, despite vigorous reresentations made te the contrary, ■ has continued 'to retain control, being supported in this by the acclimatisation societies. Now. seven years laer, the country is faced with a truly formidable problem. The culling has proceeded on so small a scale that it has not even been able to cope with anything like the annual rate of increase! "AN UNDESIRABLE ALLIANCE." 'This is clearly manifest when it is pointed out that whereas the number of > n .-New Zealand was estimated at 300,000 in 1922 there is every reason for believing that to-day they aggregate a very much greater figure, which means that during this 'period not even anything like the annual rate of increase has been accounted for in cullmS; . n,evertfaeless, the acclimatisation societies that a system of . control, which does not control and is responsible for this state of affairs should be continued and. after the MinisJ^ff l i - ra h ? a . declared iu Parliament that. in his opinion, the time has arrived for permission to be given to shoot deer at all times, we find the accnmatisation societies recommending and the Internal Affairs Department approving restricted deer shooting seasons for 1930. limiting the number of licenses that may be issued in some districts and in the case of chamois and thar forbidding, that any more than two bucks shall be takem per license, while the shooting of any doe or fawn is prohibited “on any pretext whatever.” With the InternalAffaurs _ Department relying on the acclimatisation societies to effect the necessary culling and the president of the societies declaring that “unfortunately those who were out to get heads would not bother about hinds,” while the societies at the same time receive all the deer license revenue, it is patent that an undesirable alliance exists which should be terminated immediately in the interests of the country. Last year’s culling rate is estimated at being somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30,000, a mere fraction of the probable estimated year’s increase. If the problem is to he grappled With at all. the present system of “ control must first be ended, and real culling figures aimed at —figures which will account. not only for the annual rate of increase, but for a very considerable proportion of the existing herds as well. If this is not done now and for a good many years to come, it can only mean that the problem will become intensified manyfold lor the deer have now reached such numbers that each year’s increase will be distinctly felt.

THE FORTHCOMING CONFERENCE Sufficient has been shown surely to warrant the of the present state of affairs, the appointment of an effective board of control, and the formulation of a definite wildlife policy which will conserve national and not individual interests, and will be for the benefit of the country. If the present Minister of Internal Affairs and the Commissioner of State Forests, who have innocently walked into the mess, can effect a remedy they will confer on the country lasting benefits which will not be for-

gotten readily. But, if they- are to do anything at all they will be well advised not to allow themselves to be influenced too much by their own departments and the' acclimatisation societies, which latter have their own interests to serve, and which now, judging by their recently declared policy, are not the interests of the country. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Minister of Internal Affairs has convened a conference for March next of ah interests concerned to consider the question of dealing- with • the deer menace. This is satisfactory as far it it goes, but whether it will achieve much depends very largely upon the- constitution of the conference and its order of reference. If the conference •is to be overweighted by acclimatisation societies representatives, the public may expect another vote of confidence in the Interna] Affairs Department; and a declaration that its administration, which has been responsible for the development 0 j P resen t menace .while substantially adding to _ the funds of the acclimatisation societies, “should not be disturbed.’" If the conference is to be effective, however, it will openly discuss the whole question of wild-hfe control, and will consider such issues as to whether all deer license, opossum royalties, and native game shooting ; revenue should not be taken away from the acclimatisation societies and handed over to a board of control or a department of State, with a view to sending out adequate expeditions of expert hunters to cull deer district by district systematically. This revenue, of course, will not be by any means sufficient, but it will-help substantially, and the State must find the balance of the money required. The farmers, who are most con cerned -economically, will do well to see that they are adequately represented through the various branches of the Farmers’ Union, while the Forestry League, the New Zealand Alpine and Trampers’ Clubs, and the New Zealand Native Birds Protection Society, should likewise see to it that they are not overlooked.

In view of the importance of the issues raised in this series of articles, tpd in order not to take the acclimatisation societies unduly by surprise, "Mamaku’’ placed a series of ,20 questions before Mr L. 0. H. Tripp, president of the New Zealand Acclimatisation Societies, and he duly answered them. These questions and answers giving the acclimatisation societies’, side of the case, will be published in our next two succeeding issues.

Wellington 1259 1380 1692 North Canterbury ... 1286 618 298 South Canterbury .. 943 115 . 42 Otago 2205 582 ' 703 Southland 1628 330 204