Whose rights?

Forest and Bird, Volume 17, Issue 4, 1 November 1986, Page 16

Whose rights?

yee is being waged in Fiordland over the endangered takahe — and yet it eed not be. At the time of writing the Deerstalkers Association is threatening a High Court injunction to stop the Wildlife Service re-locating takahe in the Glaisnock Valley of the Stuart Mountains. It is likely their injunction will succeed and the issue will only be resolved by court proceedings so lengthy as to prevent takahe liberation in the 1986/87 summer. Many deerstalkers fear that, because takahe and introduced wapiti compete for the same tussock food, pressure will go on to exterminate all wapiti from the area where the takahe are re-located. However, their fears are largely groundless, as groundless as their claim that the takahe is a dying species which is more at home in lowland podocarp-broad-leaf forest. There is no question that wapiti numbers will have to be kept low in order to maintain the success the Wildlife Service is achieving with its takahe programme — a 20 percent annual increase in takahe numbers over the last two years has seen the population jump from 120 to 180 birds. But at the same time it would be flying in the face of reality to expect a total wapiti eradication programme to be successful. Unfortunately, wapiti and the deer they have hybridised with are here to stay because, despite intensive hunting it has simply proved impossible to eliminate the bush dwelling animals. All we can do is seek the lowest possible populations. There is also no question that native, endangered species like the takahe take precedence over wapiti. A proper sense of priorities puts the takahe first — it requires a specific habitat (mid-ribbed snow tussock such as that found in the Glaisnock-Edith catchment) if it is to survive, whereas the wapiti is capable if living anywhere in New Zealand, and is widely farmed. The takahe is an animal in harmony with its environment, with its curious method of feeding which actually promotes new tussock growth rather than stunting tussocks as the wapiti grazing does. At present the takahe stands the risk of extinction should avian disease attack the only wild population in the Murchison Mountains good reason why a second, separate population should be established. A compromise would see hunters continuing to shoot wapiti in the Glaisnock where the North American deer would be kept at low numbers in order to give the second takahe population a chance of establishing well. It would also provide a wild population of takahe for the tramping public to see. At present the Murchison Mountains special area is out of bounds to the public. Both animals hold special attractions for New Zealanders; in Southland feelings run high on both sides of the issue, as evidenced by the large sign alongside the Te Anau highway proclaiming: ‘"‘Wapiti belong in Fiordland." This attitude was reinforced on the recent Closeup TV programme when a Deerstalkers Association representative made the following sad remarks: ‘‘You can imagine how a stalker would feel looking for a wapiti . . . it would be bad luck for any takahe he came across. I don’t think this would happen with any native birds, the ones that are in there naturally, but any that were put in there like hatchery pheasants, people may regard them the same way.’’ This issue must be resolved urgently. The second takahe population must be established as soon as possible. Any delay is a tragedy, risking the loss of the species forever. Gerry McSweeney, Conservation Director