My Account
Predators animals too
Rae Bird, Gulf Harbour (abridged)
I am deeply concerned with this country’s obsession with Predator Free. Recent issues have articles encouraging people to trap animals, it is disturbing. I take umbrage with the new pest free champion’s remarks “nobody likes to kill stuff” (HM August 7). Living beings are not “stuff”. This is the only living planet that we know of and we humans are constantly killing. Nature’s balance is disturbed. When the wolf regenerated after humans culled it, they were shocked to discover flora and fauna returned to the area with the wolf. After the last wild cat was slaughtered on Macquarie Island, off Australia, they discovered their mistake as the birds are still dying. Seems the cats were keeping the rats at bay. Some schools are encouraging children to trap animals. When children should be learning compassion and empathy they are being taught death, judgment and that some lives are worthless. Add to this the obsession with the poison 1080 in the name of predator free. Google the connection of that poison with Monsanto Chemical company and check their history. Google hedgehogs’ and possums’ diets and it turns out birds are not their priority diet, nor are they cats’. They estimate humans have wiped out 60 percent of the animals on the planet. Every living thing has a purpose. Predator free – shove it. Do not destroy my future with your agenda.
Pest Free Hibiscus Coast Project Coordinator Jenny Hanwell replies: I respect your right to express your opinion. It’s also important to recognise that not all information found on Google is scientifically correct or up to date. I can assure you that Forest and Bird’s Pest Free Hibiscus Coast project is focused on restoring the delicate balance of our ecosystem based on robust scientific evidence. Eighty percent of native bird species are currently in trouble, including 87 percent of endemic species found nowhere else. This is largely caused by introduced predators brought here by people – these animals are part of the ecosystem elsewhere, but cause devastation here. We all have to take action and thousands of us recognise that we have a choice – it’s the birds, or the pests. Our project offers certified humane methods to safely control animal pests that damage our wildlife and people’s properties. We will not let our unique birds and lizards become extinct and replaced with rats. We will not let the dawn chorus on the Coast go silent on our watch, or our children grow up not knowing what a kiwi or a tui looks and sounds like.
The team at Hibiscus Matters is really going to miss John Hyde –one of the paper’s long time friends and supporters, and a community stalwart – who died last month at the age of 95. John, always wearing a hat, would frequently pop into our office to have a chat and give input to our stories.
He also featured in the paper a number of times because of his volunteer work with groups such as the Red Cross and hospice. He was a founding member of the Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society (SOSSI) and volunteered regularly at the sanctuary for 18 years. Recently, members of John’s family and some of the SOSSI volunteers created a small planting within the open sanctuary, at the start of the Waterfall Gully track, as a living memorial. John spent a lot of time and energy in that area, maintaining it for visitors.
John’s local knowledge, energy and passion for the community made him a force to be reckoned with. With real affection, we will always remember him cupping his hand behind his ear, asking us to speak louder because he, stubbornly, never seemed to be wearing his hearing aids. Rest in peace, John.
Godwits have returned early to the Coast. I spotted this flock of 18 birds on the grass at Millwater Metro Park at high tide on 5 September. The Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre’s facebook page posted news of a similar number touching down at Stanmore Bay on 2 September – a place where they are not often seen. They were reported to have moved on quickly. I’m thinking these might be the same birds I spotted, now back in Orewa Estuary after becoming disoriented and missing their landing target during the storm. The Shorebird Centre also reports that, “on 23-25 August a window of opportunity arose in Alaska for some early departures for the brave”. It seems these early Orewa arrivals are indeed some of the brave godwits who undertook the journey early. The Orewa flock is expected to increase to over 200 at the peak of summer. Sue Courtney, Orewa
