DESTRUCTION OF DEER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18353, 22 March 1934, Page 12

DESTRUCTION OF DEER

Absolute necessity MINISTER VISITS INFESTED AREA . ! (Per Press Association.) . CHRISTCHUIvCH, last night. The Hon. J. A. Young returned to Christchurch to-day after a trip to the deer-infested regions iu the ranges, where-he made a personal inspection o£ the damage wrought by deer in S3st areas and in the snow grass ntry between the timber and the kis tbps. Mr. Young was accomoh the tour by Captain G. F. Herex, who is in charge of deer destruction operations for the Government, and by Mr. Malcolm Fraser, tffedfer-Secretary for Internal Affairs. The party left Christchurch on March 'll,, drove to Pembroke, and went pn next day to the head of Lake IVanakn. There they .saw something of, the work of n party of men there hqnting and shooting deer. From there the patty covered very difficult Country by horse and on foot into the Raas't Valley and saw some of the worat of •the .'doer infested country in

South Westland. On his trip, the Minister shot two doer and Mr. Fraser, who went with one’ of the shooting parties, also shot several. Referring to deer destruction, Mr. Young said that he was convinced that any slackening in the destruction of deer, especially in the South Island, might become a national danger. A programme of deer destruction had been mapped out for several years ahead to keep up the pressure where damage done by deer was serious. When this season’s work ended, in about live weeks, it was estimated that 9000 deer would have been killed since the beginning of the summer. Of these, 5000 were in South Westland and 3000 in the Waimakariri watershed and 3000 in contiguous areas.