MENACE OF KEA

Evening Star, Issue 22448, 19 September 1936, Page 11

MENACE OF KEA

APPALLING TDLL OF SHEEP INDUSTRY DRASTIC ACTION URGED To many the kea is merely an object of curiosity, a “character” among birds, but to the sheep farmers in the high country of the South Island he is a deadly menace—one who takes appalling toll of their flocks. This is the view expressed in an interview with a ‘ Star ’ reporter yesterday by Mr D. C. Aubrey, of Cattle Flat, who, from a long experience of sheep farming in high and low country, speaks with authority on the killing instinct of the kea, and urges., the Government; to itake-the most drastic measures to suppress a pest which is costing sheep farmers huge sums annually. There are some prepared to argue that the kea is a harmless bird, and that there is no evidence of his depredations among the sheep. Mr Aubrey’s views are given from his own experience, and he declared without hesitation that every kea had the “ killer ” instinct, when among sheep, highly developed. He decried the suggestion that seagulls were responsible for the marks on the backs of sheep. Why was it, he asked, that in low country a sheep was never found with its hack picked? Where there were no keas such depredations among sheep had never come under his notice.

Sheep farmers in the high country have to allow a certain number as the normal death-rate among sheep, but Mr Aubrey, when there was an early fall of snow one year, lost 550 two-tooth ewes above the normal rate, due to the vicious attacks of the kea. “ I haye seen them kill,” he stated, “ and it is a strange thing that they do most of their killing at night and high up in the hills.” : - Sometimes keas are found that are fairly quiet, and it is even possible to catch the bird by hand, but in the higher country especially he has seen them so wild that no one could get near them. They will even attack a man, he asserted, and frequently frighten the dogs. They nest usually in the most inaccessible places. ~ The cruel, vicious nature of the bird can be realised only by those who have seen it at work or have observed the results of its deadly attacks upon the sheep, Mr Aubrey stated. Going round the hills after the keas have been at work, one is astounded to see the number of dead sheep, and it is an interesting fact that the birds almost invariably disappear when the sun rises. Their killing takes place through the night, blit sometimes they will make an attack when the day is very dull or foggy.

From his own observation Mr Aubrey speaks of the bird’s method of attack. The kea alights on the back of a sheep, which tears around and eventually falls over, the kea sticking like a leech. Immediately the half-crazed animal sinks to the ground the kea gives it a pick, and experience has shown that if the animal does not die immediately it succumbs to blood-poisoning. It is Mr Aubrey’s experience that, though the keas kill hundreds of sheep,, they rarely devour them. At times, however, they will come hack to a dead sheep and scrape it to the bone. As often as not the kea will kill merely for the sport of killing, for it is difficult to imagine a more mischievous bird. An instance of the nature of the bird is given by Mr Aubrey, who said that ■ when hoggets were being taken out of the snow on one occasion they had to be left overnight. After the men had left the keas launched their attack, picking the backs of the sheep as they sprawled in the deep snow.Those animals which Jay on their backs were even more cruelly attacked, the keas even, picking the hind legs bare when they were sticking out of the snow. There is a mistaken idea that the kea seeks the sheep’s kidney. It actually picks bare the fleshy part of the loin, and sheep have been seen running about with the white sinews bared.

“ It is appalling how many sheep are lost in the real high country of the South Island through the depredations of the kea,” said Mr Aubrey, “ and the need for Government action is urgent.” Every year, he asserts, the kea is becoming a bigger menace to the sheep industry, and stern measures to rid the South Island of this pest should be taken. Runholders are prepared to deal with the birds on their own land, but they are anxious that the Government should endeavour to suppress the keas on “ no-man's land,” otherwise Government land. A kea’s beak at the present time brings 2s 6d from the counties, 2s 6d from the Government, and 3s from the runholder. The killing of the bird is permitted at any time, but the harassed sheep farmers contend that those men who are employed by the Government to exterminate deer should be permitted to kill keas as well wherever they are found, and that they should receive some payment for keas as well. The deer-killers are allowed to kill keas on runholders’ property, but the runholders must take all responsibility. What they desire is an organised attempt to clean the kea off Government land in the region of the Alps, which is mostly their breeding ground. Keas will kill all the year round, but the worst time is when the snow is on the ground and their food is short. Some measures have been taken to combat what has developed from a nuisance to a real menace, but it is urged that the problem should be tackled much more systematically.