KILLING OF KIWIS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 278, 26 November 1935, Page 5

KILLING OF KIWIS

BIRDS IN EGMONT BUSH MEWS OF TRAPPERS SOUGHT *::i:emcnts that a number of kiwis I being caught in opossum traps •m- around the foot, of Mount Egmont uerp referred by a Daily News reporter re-cntlv to an opossum trapper in the • t at t <>rd district. He said that, during the .< ason recently closed he and an° ot o r trapper had caught four kiwis in traps. Three were unhurt- and were re- , ‘ l ' p '• '-ie |pg of the fourth was broken and tiler killed it rather than let it to die s’owly or become prev to vermin. Kiwis. he continued, were not, caught nearlv so often as was supposed. Moreover, thev had strong legs and, as he had pointed out. only one of the four was hurt. He realised that it was regrettable that the birds should be caught in the traps but on the other hand trappers <aught hundreds of vermin- -to.it-. weasels and rats—in a sea<on '<» that any loss among kiwis was more than offset l.v the extermination of vermin which preyed upon native l»iid life and must do incalcuiable harm evert rear. Ibis year,'’ he continued, “wc caught and killed nearly ICO weasels apart from rats and stoats. Last rear we caught hundreds of rats but they were not so numerous this season. Whether the number killed had a "eneral effect in checking breeding I do not know but then’ were far less rats about than usual.” I’he trapper’s statement was refe:red to a member of the east committee at last meeting of which the matter was raised. The figures of four kiwis caught and one killed on the east side of Egmont were not large, he said, but the total number of kiwis injured through trapping operations right round Egmont would be considerable. Lt was a question whether the game was worth the candle—whether the amount realised in revenue from the trapping wps worth the loss of the birds. He had actually seen a kiwi killed by a trap in the reserve, said another member of the east committee when approached. Up had not heard of any being killed this year, and did not believp that it was a very common happen ng. In any case he understood that a kiwi could quite possibly be caught and released again unharmed because of the strength of its legs. That it should happen at all was most unfortunate. The position of the trappers was a very awkward one. he 'continued. They were powerless to prevent it under the present system of opossum trapping. There was never anv suggetion of deliberate trapping for kiwis and no amount of care could avoid it. There were two courses before anyone wishing to eliminate the danger to kiwis altogether. One was to prohibit a’l trapping in the reserve and the other was to use some other kind of trap. He had personally seen no other k’nd of trap, though it was quite likely there were others. He had heard that setting the trap on a sloping log leaned against a tree trunk was effective for catching opossums and harmless to kiwis. The idea was that the opossum would in climbing the tree run un the “lope rather than straight up the upright trunk and of course as the tran was off the ground the bird« could come to no harm. Rome such idea might be worth considering, lie said.