OVERRUN BY DEER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 5, 6 June 1913, Page 6

OVERRUN BY DEER.

• WEEDY HERDS IN' SOUTHLAND. CULLING URGENTLY NEEDED. Dunedin, Tuesday. • A deputation representing tlie Otago 'Acclimatisation Society to-day waited upon the Hon. 11. D. Bell for the purpose of soliciting Government assistance to cull red deer herds in the back country "between Lindis and Lake Hawea. It swas pointed out that the Hawea herd .had long been regarded as the finest in i the world, but the deer had been allowed to increase in such numbers, and had become so weedy, that a good head was 'becoming a rarity. The Society bad (already spent £7OO (including the fJoIvernmcnt subsidy) in thinning out the deer, but it was evident that from 1000 to 2000 more old hinds and malforms ■ would have to be shot in order to preserve the herd. The Society had spent most of the revenue derived from fishing licenses towards that end, but the work had been seriously hampered by the inaction of the Waitaki Acclimatisation Society. As weedy and malformed deer swarmed over the Waitaki ranges, the opinion was expressed that both herds should be placed under one control for the purpose of improving them, but tliev would bo. quite favorable to co-operation with the Waitaki Society if the Government could see its way to assist both bodies in culling operations. Up to the present, it had cost the Society 2s 3d per head for deer that had been shot, but in order to have culling carried out in the proper manner thoroughly competent men should be employed. Ranger Johns said £3OO to £4OO was urgently needed. He condemned the methods hitherto adopted, and said that to get the best results the whole herd should be driven towards a common centre, and thinned out to the extent of about 2100. The Minister said it had been stated that the deer were hurting small farmers, many of whom were complaining of the depredations in turnip and other crops. The Government officers had

already taken the matter into consideration, and although he thought personally the Government would have to attend to the matter, he cquld give no promise. that such a course would be adopted. He was not prepared to say whether work could be done best by ilie Society or the Government, but from what had come under his notice in the North Island he thought the Government would have to go into the matter in a scientific way to secure the best results. It was not. a Hawea or a Waitaki question, but applied to deer herds all over New Zealand. The matter would receive his careful attention.