SLAUGHTERING THE KEA

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1927, Page 4

SLAUGHTERING THE KEA

(“ Auckland Star.”) The council of the New Zealand Sheepowners’ and Farmers’ Federation is requesting the Government to destroy 'the ken, or alpine parrot, on the .‘Government reserves in the South •Island. This is a large order, considering the nature of those reserves, which include Aorangi and Arthur’s •Pass and Mount Rolleston National •Parks and other enormous mountain aieas along the Southern Alps. It is also a -pretty cool request, in a double sense. The sheep-killing propensities of some members of the kea tribe are no doubt a considerable annoyance to llock-owners on the Canterbury and Otago side of the alpine range. But it is still quite an open question whether the kea is responsible for as much damage as the sheepmen set down to his discredit. The bird is already outlawed by the settler, and the public is, moreover, called upon to pay five shillings n head, and in some countries

more to the sheep-run people for slaughtering him. This, one would imagine, is quite enough to protect flocks without calling upon the •Government to exterminate the bird in the mountains where sheep are not depastured. An unfortunate habit of the sheep farmer in both islands is his readiness to run to the Government for help against the natural’ enemies that once upon a time he had to dispose of without State aid. If an old hush boar raids his lamb paddock by night, str;\igli tawny he must raise a loud wail about it to the Minister of Agriculture, instead of getting out his gun and carrying the war into- the enemy’s lair. In the case of the kea-hnter, the lack of the old self-reliant ways is still more marked.

The time has just about come, moreover, when the case in defence of the kea should he presented by those interested in the preservation of our native •birds. Tbo kea, in bis native haunts of rack and ice, is a sociable, amusing creature, the very reverse of the picture'df a ruthless ruffian drawn by the sltet’pjfiirmers. No mountaineer, no alpine guide, could be persuaded to kill vho bird that comes hopping across the glacier after one, more inquisitive even than the weka, screeching, “Kay-all, kay-ah! ”

' *1 ave seen the 'kea as tame, as devoid of fear, as any penguin on its native beaches. I also have heard the j fearsome tales of the back-country] sheep men, and have seen rows of executed koas, caught rod-beaked, nailed upon stockyard fences as horrible warnings to the parrot clan. The kea is no doubt a shocking example of a good bird gone wrong. The sheepfanner led him into temptation, and lie did descend on the baa-lambs and pluck ami cat. But there is such a thing as carrying punishment too far. Any in any event, it is up to the flockowners to look after their own pro perty.

The kea, so far from being a curse in the high country, is an attractive item in the snowy landscape, where one i:, only too pleased to see any living thing. And, whatever sheep-farming Governments may do, tlio Boh Boy of fI: 0 Southern Alps is likely to linger there quite as long ns the goi'den eagle has lingered in the Highlands of Scotland, where, after centuries of nearer settlements than our mountains are hkely to see, it still holds its lofty cv rie. —TANCTWAf.