STAGGERING LOSSES OF SHEEP AND CATTLE

Chronicle (Levin), 17 May 1948, Page 5

STAGGERING LOSSES OF SHEEP AND CATTLE

GiSBORNE, May 16. Losses of sfofck in the floode'd Gisborne flats .still pfesent a confused picture and. Depaftment oi' Agriculture experts today were iiot prepared even to hazard a gUeSS about the toll. It Is obvious, however, from the day's collection of carcaSes of sheep and cattle from the Matawhero, Makauri and bushmere districts, for hoiiing down, that the toll runs into thouSands of head. It is conservatively estimated by freeziilg works officials that thc Sheep aiid lamb losses alone run into betwefen 10,000 and 12,000 with 500 oi" more cattle and a similar number oi pigs. There figures are based on the fact that over 600 carcases of sheep, lambs nnd pigs were poured into the freezing works today from the threfe districts by a fleet of lorries. The influx completely choked the capaeity of the boiling down plant and consequently piled up in the vards. The problem reached an impasse "by 3 o'clock when all tanks serving the boilers l'or the boiling down plant, rau out of water and with none available from the fiood-broken borougii pipeline, there was only suflieieht water to eontinue till inidnight. Officials pointed out thfit it was impo'ssible to eontinue this rtiethod of disposal of the carcases beeause the nonnal slaughtering of stoek from the flood areas would be resumed in the morning. The great bulk of the carcases alreadv depositel at the Works, therefore, together with those still on the farmS, will have to be taken to the eountry and buried in muss graves opened up by bulldozers and mechanical diggers which, of eourse, may entail the loss of the ivool that otherwise would be scoured by thc boiling xlown proc.ess. It is estimated that there are fullv anotlier 6000 sheep and lambs lying dead on farms throughout the districts, not vet recovered by the collectors, apart from moi'e than 1000 cattle and Pigs- . . . Thousands of head of sheep and cattle were swept to sea by thfe floods, mahy eten from high land beiieved beyond the reaeh of the surge. Settlers saw hUndreds of head of stofek struggling in swirling waters and the many dead sheep which hting on the fences this morning was gi'ini evidence of the losses. N.eaf Alatawhero 2000 sheep were grouped on higli ground but wheii the flood surged to the area, efforts were made to g'et the shfeep into the top dfeck of railway trucks. Only 150 eould be saved. Another group of 587 hoggets was swept away iii the nearby Alakauri district. "the ldsses ihcludfed 500 Sheep from one property and 400 cattle from another. Orops ahd pastufes will be under inches of silt and fehee^ liavfe been' sfl'ept away and lie in tangled confusion miles away: