GAME BIRDS DESTROYED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23330, 23 October 1937, Page 19

GAME BIRDS DESTROYED

KILLED BY RABBIT POISON MINISTER DISCUSSES PROBLEM (Special to Daily Times) WELLINGTON, Oct. 22. The opinion held by many game sportsmen, that the phosphorated poison used extensively in some parts of New Zealand to kill rabbits had taken-considerable toll of game and other birds, was supported by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr W. E. Parry) when interviewed today. The Minister said that correspondents had written giving instances of dead pheasants and quail having been picked up in fields, a post-mortem examination of the birds revealing that they had been poisoned. The laying of rabbit poison was one of the problems that the game branch of the Department of Internal Affairs had to face and the _ matter had already been the subject of much discussion. In some cases it had been possible to have the use of phosphorated poison dispensed with and carrots sprinkled with strychnine substituted.

"Naturally." Mr Parry said, "the Department of Agriculture considers it would be fatal to the work of rabbit control if the occupiers of land were confined to any one form of poison, as there are occasions throughout the year when a.change oil poison must be used." He pointed out that in recent liberations of Calii.'ornian quail from Otago and of pheasants from the Ngongotaha State Game Farm care had been taken to give the birds liberty in specially-selected areas. "The departmental officers made a special investigation of the areas in which the birds were to be liberated." Mr Parry said, "and selected areas where the birds would received every protection from sympathetic property holders and where there would be no rabbit poison."