ARE THEY DOOMED?

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 241, 10 September 1929, Page 2

ARE THEY DOOMED?

NEW ZEALAND FORESTS. DESTRUCTION- BY DEER. MENACE TO FARMERS. No. 3. (By E. E. Muir). It is beconv ig notorious that where deer are our forests are fast being eaten out of all undergrowth, that renewal growth has been destroyed, and that the bark is being eaten and rubbed off large trees, dooming them to early extinction. Writing in the “New Zealand Fishing and Shooting Gazette” of his recent expedition to the West Coast Sounds district, where he shot the first moose in New Zealand, Mr E. J. Herrick makes two significant statements. These are: (1) “The bush was eaten out completely by red deer, several hundred acres being absolutely eaten bare, not a green blade of fern leaf within reach or anything green left, except the tall forest trees.’ (2) “The valley was much eaten out by moose.” “A MATTER OF DEER OR FORESTS”

In 1922, in his report presented to Parliament, Mr A. H. Perham, iorest assistant, referring generally to the destruction of forests by deer, stated: — “In some of these areas it is a matter of deer or forests.” Since then, as already shown, the estimated number of deer in New Zealand has increased from 300,000 to 1,169,000. . Speaking to a representative of The Press (Christchurch) in July last regarding an extended visit he had paid to the back country between Hanmer and Lake Rotoroa for the purpose of investigating the menace tb runholders and native forest caused by red deer, Mr J. Anderson stated‘There are some stations whose carrying capacity has decreased by as much as 40 per- cent, during the past ten years, and what is going to happen if this increase is not checked? Cattle and sheep will be eventually starved out, and thousands of valuable acres will be given over to what is rapidly developing into a national pest in this country. “I have travelled through thousands of acres of native bush, where practically all the young growth has been eaten out, and there is no new" growth to replace that which dies and decays through age. This is more especially noticeable in the birch forests, where 1 have seen large areas absolutely ruined by the deer which, during the snow period, take to the bush for feed and shelter.

GRAZING RUNS IN JEOPARDY. . “In this country the deer have no natural enemies, and the lew thousand shot by sporting parties are a mere bagatelle compared with their natural increase. They are a long lived animal, and I would estimate this natural increase at about 80 per cent, per annum and any person who is at ail in touch with conditions in the back country v ill realise what this means. I do not think that the deer will ever seriously threaten the low-lying farming areas, but I do know that the high country grazing runs, where tho best of our wool clips come from, are in danger, and in serious danger, of becoming useless for grazing purposes, and that in a very few years.” It will' be noted that Mr Anderson has estimated the natural rate of increase of the red deer at the rate or oU per cent, per annum. The writer, in his figures, however, has worked _on a basis of a natural increase of 25 poi cent, per annum, and has reduced even this percentage by doubling the official return of annual cullings. ARE FLOODS NOAV MORE FREQUENT? It is an axiom, demonstrating universally by sad experience, that deforested country, particularly mountainous and hilly country, is liable to serious erosion, causing sudden, devastating floods. Even when the tall timber is left to survive for the period of its natural life, and when all the undergrowth is eaten out regularly, thus preventing renewal from seedlings, the effects are serious. Referring to the Hunter River, in Otago, as a case in point, Mr Perliam in 1922 stated: “Floods in the river have been heavier, and more erosion of the banks has taken place of late years than ever before, although the forest has not diminished appreciably, if at all, in area. The only apparent reason that can be seen is that the floor of the forest is bare, the soil is almost as hard as the surrounding country, and on this also the flora has diminished. No obstruction is offered to the. waters of the heavy rains and melting snows; they rush to the valley, producing heavy floods, which cause erosion. ’ In how many’ valleys is this process being repeated to-day, only in an intensified form owing to the four-fold i nei on so in the number of deer? The Hunter Valley, it is authoratively stated, has now been eaten out, and is scarcely used for stalking. . . What is to happen to New Zealand, which is blessed with a more plenteous rainfall than most countries in the world, if all the undergrowth of its forests is allowed to be eaten out, and the standing timber, through ring barking, becomes dead? Do not, already, devastating floods appear to be more frequent now than in the past.'' It would appear «o. Is it not worth investigation to ascertain whether this is tine or not, and if it is true, whether it is due to (1) increased rainfall, (2) forest denudation by settlers and sawmills, or (3) to the effects of deer in our remaining forests. HYDRO-ELECTRIC WORKS ENDANGERED.

Referring to the hydro-electric schemes, upon which this country has lately spent so many millions, Mr Perham made this prophetic statement: “Grazing of stock and game animals in forests dedicated to the conservation of climate and of stream-now for our great hydro-electric and other waterworks is a danger that must be clearly looked to. . The importance of making an immediate monetary use ot grazing and game carrying propensities pales into insignificance beside tho issue involved in the protection of these works.” . There is certainly room for the fullest inquiry immediately in these several directions, the more so because it is plain that if nothing is done now to effect a real remedy the next decade, with the deer having already reached such numbers, will bring some expensive lessons. If, indeed, the deer are to bo allowed to increase to such incredible proportions as 10,000,000 by 1939, it is evident that New Zealanders must make up their minds to say an early good-bye to their glorious forests, and that when the deer have eaten them out they must turn to the farms for their food supply, as in many cases they are already doing in different parts of the country. LOSSES OCCASIONED BY DEER. It is important, under these circumstances, to arrive at some idea of the annual loss being suffered by New Zealand as a result of the presence of such vast hordes of deer. In his report of 1922 Mr Perham assesses the “estimated damage to mountain pastures, farm crops, fences, stock, dis-,

placement of stock, and damage to forests” caused by deer at £IBO,OOO per annum. If this was the case in 1922, then the loss being suffered today, when the deer total nearly four times as many, must be at least fourfold, namely, £720,000 per annum. The loss, however, is more likely to be in greater proportion, as the more numerous the deer become the more they invade the agricultural and pastoral lands for their food supply. However, accepting the relative Joss in proportion to the number of deer as being somewhere near correct, if the deer are to bo allowed to increase to 3,321,000 by 1934, five years from now, the damage then caused will be at the rate of £2,160,000 per annum, while, if the deer herds aro to be permitted to go on multiplying at tho same rate until 1939, the loss then to the country will amount to the no small figuie of £6,480,000 per annum I Only, the -losses then will probably be far greater than that because bv then tho deer must have completely eaten out the forests and mountain pastures and can then only depend'upon the farms for'their existence. Can New Zealand contemplate such a possibility with complacency ? ONLY A FEW STALKERS BENEFIT.

The deer have been introduced to New Zealand, not because they serve any useful purpose, but solely for the benefit of providing sport for deerstalkers and overseas sportsmen who might be attracted to the country thereby. In his report Mr Perham stated that in 1922 merely o.oooa per cent, of the population ot the Dominion indulged in this pastime, while as for the introduction of overseas tourists or.e settler in the Hunter Valley. Otago (at one time a stalker s paradise, and even in 1922 a great hunting ground), stated that he had only known of four overseas tourists stalking there during a period ot a great many years. If this is the ease is it not time that a correct estimate of the value of our deer herds from an overseas tourist’s point of view should be arrived atP It will be seen that from the depredations of deer alone a crisis has now been reached so far as the future of New Zealand’s forests and the wellbeing of our agricultural and pastoral industries are concerned. GOATS, PIGS AND OPOSSUMS.

Deer, however, are not the only menace. Goats and pigs, present in formidable numbers in certain districts, are speeding up the process of ruin, and they do not appear to Lc kept in check. These, too, are causes for investigation. The same applies, perhaps, to the opossum, the only re-, venue producer, which lives on our native flora, and is alleged to be an eater of birds and birds’ eggs. It has been proclaimed by Mr Macintosh Ellis, late l>ircctor of -Forestry: “No birds, no forests.” The role of the opossum in the destruction of birds and also of New Zealand’s forest growth has yet to ho. determined, hut in view of what is happening from deer, goats and pigs, it would seem that the inquiry regarding the opossum should not be too long delayed.

The next and concluding article will deal witli the question of other animals and pLJilts imported into New Zealand.