KAPITI ISLAND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2402, 9 March 1922, Page 3

KAPITI ISLAND.

BIRD SANCTUARY. “It is not only the goats that are spoiling the bush on Kapiti,” remarked a well known Wellington resident who visited the island sanctuary toward the end of last year, “In my mind,” he said, “the opussums are doing serious damage there. \ During my visit a great number of these latter animals were captured, and from the signs it appeared that a great deal of harm will certainly result from their presence unless their.activities are curtailed. As for the goats, our first excursion- into the bush reu ed in a bag of seven in less than as many minutes, and flocks of them were seen scrambling about the sfeep faces of the hills. Tracks were found in all directions, and there seemed very .little undergrowth left.. It was a great treat, to see and hear a number of our native birds, now rare on the mainland, and this shows the wisdom of setting the island apart as a sanctuary. An interesting feature was the presence of a number of nvild duck, which were noticed passing repeatedly to arid'from the mainland. The island, is. jr most romantic and' beautiful one, and lying as it does at the very door of Wellington, should be protected and beautified by every possible ineans.