Exploring New Zealand: 13 May: Athol Hunting Club Fundraiser

Athol Domain , Lodge & Holiday Park

This was our first proper frost of the Southland Winter, so we were glad to get a powered site within walking distance of the world-famous-in-New Zealand Brown Trout Cafe. This was important because tonight the Athol Hunting Club were having their annual fund-raiser event here. And another world-famous-in-New Zealand - the Graf brothers, Clyde & Steve - of popular YouTube channel TV Wild were presenting during the evening - about hunting tips and wildlife facts, and also screened their latest film about the Makarora 1080 poison drop operation, from February this year.

It was standing-room only that evening in the spacious open-plan lodge, as Clyde and Steve talked first about how their father introduced them to life in the wild, enjoying nature and learning about birds and deer. The wood-burning stove glowed warmly in the corner, whilst the diverse audience - literally all ages and backgrounds - asked questions about hunting in the bush. The brothers showed a selection of short clips from various adventures in the New Zealand forests - the audience were obviously enthralled to watch these insights and carefully edited situations.

Clyde explaining about roaring in the bush. with his brother Steve on his right.

The brothers also demonstrated how best to call a stag using an old cow-horn to get their attention, which was fascinating to learn because I had no idea about the specific types of noises that could be recognised as having different meanings to the stags - for instance whether one was dominating a territory, or attracting a mate. Some of the members had a go - with mixed results!

It was clear to all in the room that Steve and Clyde's philosophy of enjoying wildlife and learning as much as possible from nature, was founded in a strong sense of respect for our environment. Now I know that some people will find it difficult to understand that killing an animal can also be about respecting it. But it's important to contextualise this within the New Zealand culture of living off the land - the Maori word for it is kai - as these hunters are all about providing for their families in some of the most poverty-stricken, rural and isolated areas of New Zealand. Although there are animal-welfare issues around pig-hunting (with dogs) (something we didn't have time to discuss) - these animals are shot as humanely as possible. It's more than food too - as this popular event showed, it's about socialising and learning and supporting each other.

The next morning, the frost was evident all around us at the campsite! Brrrrrr!

So it was inevitable that the second-half of the evening's events would turn to more serious matters - that of the NZ Government's long-standing aerial poisoning operations - mainly Compound 1080, but also of Brodifacoum - which were systematically and inhumanely killing the wildlife, insects and aquatic life all around the forests in New Zealand. Fore-warning the audience of what was to come, he said he wouldn't be offended if people chose to leave now. This is because 1080 poison divides communities because of the mis-information the NZ Government spread and also the emotive language often used to try to gain support. I"ll add some details of this later, but briefly, drawing on metaphors of war like 'Battle for our Birds' and so forth, ensures a cohort of 'nationalistic' supporters that genuinely believe that poison is a way to SAVE native species - even when the evidence clearly shows how most NZ species are in decline after it's use.

Clyde showed this 30-minute film of what he and Steve discovered when tramping in Mount Aspiring National Park near Makarora (where we had parked at Christmastime). It was just after the poison operations in February which had covered thousands of hectares of land and water. Tragically, but not surprisingly (we've grown somewhat de-sensitized (if that's possible) to these horrendous deaths) there were numerous dead deer and rabbits and hares throughout the hills and baits were clearly present (as they would be after being dropped from a helicopter at some height) over a vast area. Highly toxic poison baits over our so-called "Clean, Green 100% Pure New Zealand". What an utter joke that propaganda is now.

There were many questions and lots of support from the audience. It appeared that many people simply hadn't realised what the poison was, and what it was doing to our environment. Many expressed their incredulity and anger that usual avenues of environmental help - e.g. Green Party and Greenpeace - were actually an intrinsic part of the corruption that surrounds this poison industry. After all, the poison factories in NZ are owned by the Government 0 displaying a repeated conflict of interest in the use of these toxins that are banned in the rest of the world - for very good reasons.

The great thing about this kind of event (as well as raising loads of funds for the community) is that it gets people talking. Learning through discussion is so crucial and this terrible tragedy has been hidden away for too long. We walked home positive and pleased to have supported Clyde and Steve's initiative. These important activists give up their own time and money to help raise awareness of the risks of the poison. Often at the expense of their career in this toxic NZ workplace. This is in sharp contrast to the financial gravy-train of the pro-poisoning industry....