Tuesday, 12 October, 2004

Tahr, deer as indigenous as Mallard, says Baldock

If it's good enough for Labour's Trevor Mallard to consider himself indigenous, then it's high time his colleague, Conservation Minister Chris Carter, applied the same standards to creatures such as tahr, whose forebears have inhabited this land for just as long, United Future's Larry Baldock said in Parliament today.

"It is time large game animals, such as tahr, deer and chamois - all of which have been here for between 100 and 150 years - and trout, salmon and introduced game birds were recognised for what they are in New Zealand today - a real resource.

Species such as some of these should no longer be classified as exotic pests, Mr Baldock, United Future's environment spokesman, said.

He also challenged Mr Carter and DoC over the use of 1080 poison without deer repellent, saying it resulted in the wasteful and unnecessary killing of these animals.

"Because quite frankly, if they can be called pests, then so too can Mr Mallard on occasion," Mr Baldock said. "And the Prime Minister's approach to him has tended to be one of management rather than eradication. I think there might be a lesson in there for DoC ."

ENDS

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