BIRD CONSERVATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 12 January 1932, Page 4

BIRD CONSERVATION.

For too long has the conservation of birds in New Zealand been regarded as a mere fad indulged in by those with only a sentiment,d interest in the subject. It has a much greater importance, due to values difficult to measure, but none the less real. Game birds especially are often of direct economic value to the inhabitants of a region, not only as food, but also because of the expenditure of hunters and others attracted . by their presence; and the recreational and educational advantages arising from an abundance of bii d life in general are incalculable. Some interesting and valuable forms of wild life have disappeared within recent years, or are now threatened with extinction by the changed conditions brought about by man, especially by the general encroachment on their haunts accompanying bis progressive settlement of the country, along with his too indiscriminate use of gun and trap. Generally, it may be said, no bird should be destroyed until it is proved beyond doubt that it is injurious to fruit, crops or stock. There should be an adequate balancing of their services to man with the harm done, and this is possible only by means ot a zoological survey, or an investigation by competent men into their food and general habits, so as to determine their own value, In a country where primary production is the chief source of prosperity, and where the activity of birds may he for good or evil, it is a subject of far-reaching importance, and one which no government can afford to disregard.