H.—2B

1920. NEW ZEALAND.

OPOSSUMS IN NEW ZEALAND. REPORT ON AUSTRALIAN OPOSSUMS IN NEW ZEALAND, BY PROFESSOR H. B. KIRK.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Wellington, 31st March, 1920. The Hon. the Minister of Internal Affairs. Sir, — Report on Australian Opossums in New Zealand. I was asked, through the New Zealand Institute, to find answers to the two following questions : — (I.) Whether the damage to forests is likely to outweigh advantages to settlers in being able to earn a revenue by trapping or taking opossums in new country. (2.) On what areas these animals could be liberated with reasonable security against their overrunning and damaging State forests. I am in a position to answer the questions, as under : — (1.) The damage to New Zealand forests is negligible, and is far outweighed by the advantage that already accrues to the community. That advantage might be enormously greater. On the one'hand, the damage to orchards and gardens is indisputable. Much annoyance, and a loss statable at hundreds of pounds, is caused. On the other hand, the volume of the present trade in skins is statable in thousands, but the loss is borne by one section of the community while the gain from trade is made by another section. (2.) Opossums may, in my opinion, with advantage be liberated in all forest districts except where the forest is fringed by orchards or has plantations of imported trees in the neighbourhood. In seeking for the material to answer these questions I have obtained from various sources information that I deem it my duty to place at your disposal, and I therefore make a report embodying the recommendations that, after discussion with men who know, it seems to me ought to be made in regard to the means of dealing with the opossum as an animal of value to the community, yet one capable in some circumstances of being troublesome and the cause of loss. I deal first with the aspect of the question that concerns concrete damage that the opossum does, or is likely to do. I. Orchards. Damage done in orchards that are situated in districts in which opossums are numerous is often considerable. Opossums eat the leaves and young shoots of apple-trees, of peaches, and all other stone-fruits ; they damage lemon-trees in a similar fashion ; they bite fruit of all kinds, sometimes consuming the whole fruit, frequently, however, leaving it damaged on the tree or causing it to fall. Settlers north of Auckland drew my attention to the fact that lemons which were still on the tree frequently had the peel quite consumed. A district from which many complaints have come as to damage done in orchards is Albany, some ten miles north of Birkenhead, near Auckland, where opossums are not protected. Mr. Cawkwell, who owns land in this place, informs me, that grey opossums were turned out, probably from Kawau, by Mr. W. P. Featherston, about 1894. They are certainly very numerous now, and do a great deal of damage to fruit-trees. Of both these facts I saw indisputable evidence. The district is interpersed with native, bush, and scrub, arid in this the opossum finds a safe harbourage. During the winter they do little damage to gardens and orchards, but with the advent of spring they attack the young trees, eating shoots and leaves, and later destroying much fruit. Several settlers have, since protection was removed in 1912, shot opossums freely, but no concerted measures have been taken. The skins have generally not been marketed. # The principal reason for this seems to be that there is no means known to the settlers by which a few skins can be profitably disposed of without undue trouble. It seems to me certain that if a market were found for the skins the local fruitgrowers' association constitutes the organization recpiired for collecting small numbers of skins and marketing them. Thus, if skins taken at various seasons were worth no more than 2s. apiece on an average it would pay

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