The Sheep-killing Parrot, or the Goblin Kea
Anon
Genre: | Abstract |
Publications abstracted: | English Illustrated Magazine |
Relevant illustrations: | eng. |
Subjects: | Ornithology, Natural History, Acclimatization, Hunting |
Claims that the case of the kea, or New Zealand parrot, shows that 'feathered bipeds can become as depraved under evil environment as if they were bipeds of the non-feathered variety'. In the new environmental conditions created by the rapidly growing human population of New Zealand, the 'unfortunate kea' has had to 'become carnivorous under necessity' and 'kidney-fat was the apple that ruined the vegetarian of the New Zealand Eden'. The bird, moreover, has now become 'not only a carnivore, but is a very epicure among the carnivores', and has taken to attacking and eating sheep. Indeed, the 'rapacity' of the kea is 'gruesome', and in 'a single twelve months in a corner of one run these birds have destroyed over one thousand sheep. They have been known to kill as many as two hundred healthy sheep in a single night'. Suggests that 'those sportsmen who seek the wide world over for opportunities of congenial slaughter' should 'concentrate their efforts on the New Zealand parrot'. |
© Science in the Nineteenth-Century Periodical Project, Universities of Leeds and Sheffield, 2005 - 2020
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