The Waikato Independent. Incorporating "The Cambridge Gazette." SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1923. ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY'S WORK

Waikato Independent, Volume XXIII, Issue 3074, 23 June 1923, Page 4

The Waikato Independent. Incorporating "The Cambridge Gazette." SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 1923. ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY'S WORK

There arc connected wit]] our Acclimatisation Societies many splendid men who have worked assiduously and, well for the puhliv., ami whose labours have resulted in much good for the public 'it large, as well as for those more particularly interested in sport of various kinds. At the same time, one cannot help sympathising with those who are loud in their denunciation of those who have been responsible for the introduction of various pests in tne country. We have only to look at erne such pest as-an example. Take the uniquitcms sparrow. One rati scarcely find any justification whatever for such an action that bus been responsible for the introduction of a veritable curse to the country. The same might be -aid of a great many other importations, while the wisdom of the Acclimatisation Society's actions in other directions is certainly open to question. We do not doubt for a moment that those responsible for the importation of certain birds and animals that have proved' a source of annoyance, and caused very heavy losses owing to their depredations of crops and in other ways, have been actuated by the very best of motives, but the fact remains that the step* taken have been most disastrous. One cannot help but be forced to the conclusion that important steps are sometimes taken without full and mature consideration of the, probablft effects. Our attention has been drawn to the action of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society in offering royalty for the destruction of hawks. According to a report published last week, tlris Society last, year paid for the destruction of some fiOOO hawks. A correspondent in a country paper points out that thousands of poor struggling farmers living in rabbit-stricken districts will be glad to hear that- the Ac-elimati-ation Soe ; e,ty has decided to cease payment for destruction oi ! hawks after .Tunc- SOth next, owing to wfent of funds. Ti.o'wntor p.dcb: "Tens , of • rhrMH/in'As of pound;* are sweHl Rimoalt It ia trying to free the conntoS from j the aver-in weasing xafcbit> and we are

advised to encourage the natural enomics of this pest —tin; hawk, the stoat, the weasel and the eat; also we arc notified periodically in poison, fumigate, and I<sll the rabbits on our properl ies, or else the law is sol in motion, and we arc prosecuted. The hawk is a splendid hunter, ami the species often hunt in pairs, or wait patiently at a burrow, and pick off whole colonies of young rabbits. The Acclimatisation Society has become such a menace to the farming community that it is quite time its powers were curtailed: its members are simply out for sport." The writer of this letter probably goes rather Car in his remarks, but there is a great deal in what he says. The farmer looks at such questions at a rather different angle from the average sporting man. and it certainly would appear that the Acclimatisation Societies do not consider the farming community as much as they might. It is admitted the hawks are enemies to pheasants and other imported game, but is is also well known that they destroy a great many rabbits, and in districts where the latter are such a dreadful scourge, it would seem' that there is much to be said against the wholesale destruction of the enemies to the rabbit. The same applies to other importations and protections. According to a report recently furnnjshed, the depredations of deer in various parts of New- Zealand were estimated at a cost of £JSO.OOO per annum. Can we wonder that land-own-ers who suffer very severely from such causes as those enumerated are strongly opposed to much of the acclimatisation societies' work? No one can possibly raise a reasonable objection to a great, deal of the really splendid work done by such societies, but in view of past experiences, farmers in particular look with suspicion on certain activities of these bodies.