ON THE INCREASE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 176, 28 July 1942, Page 6

ON THE INCREASE

WILD PIG MENACE LAMB KILLER DESTROYED (0.C.) NEW PLYMOUTH, this day. A veteran lamb-killing wild pig which for the last two or three seasons had been doing considerable damage in the Urutl district, has been killed. A party led by Messrs. K. and E. Meuli set out with the definite purpose of getting this pig. The dogs followed the trail for some three miles into the bush before the men came up to it. A powerful beast with a hide liin thick in places, it took three shots in the head to kill it. One of its fine tusks had been splintered in a recent fight. Mr. K. Meuli said that because so many of the men who used to shoot nigs were now In the forces the farmers were finding it impossible to keep the menace under control. In six years one pair of pigs could produce 119,169 descendants. As a means of comparison Mr. Meuli said that the descendants of one pair of sheep over the same period would be 64. The damage to stock done by the wild pigs was serious. One farmer lost 25 per cent of his lambs each season through this cause alone.

Farmers greatly appreciate the service that Mr. Meuli ~and his friends are rendering. Through the assistance of the Agricultural Department the party usually makes '.wo trips a month.