TASMANIAN FUR TRADE

Southland Times, Issue 19311, 1 August 1924, Page 8

TASMANIAN FUR TRADE

NEED FOR PROTECTION OF OPOSSUMS. 'lt has been found necessary to have a close season for Tasmanian opossums,” said Lieutenant-Colonel R. E. Snowden, Agent-General in London for Tasmania, to a Dominion representative on Friday. “In the old days, when the method was largely sitting waiting with a gun until the opossum showed against the moon,, there was not so much need for it, but the modern methods are different, and unless restrictions are imposed there is a danger of the animals becoming extinct. Carbide lamps to aid the aim, and cyanide poisoning are rapidly thinning our ’possums out.” As one with some knowledge of the subject, Lieutenant-Colonel Snowden thought the proposals of Professor Kirk to establish a breeding ground in some southern Island of the best opossums available, where they could be systematically culled to secure the best material * for stocking the southern Alpine forests, were ideal.

“A proposal has been put up,” he said, “to establish a company in Tasmania which will take up an area of land for the purpose of breeding fur animals, killing and marketing the furs, so as to guarantee a regular supply to the markets.”