Group I.—Wild or domesticated animals used by man as beasts of burden, source of food, or in the manufacture of various products—e.g., sponges, crayfish, bees, silk-worms, shell-fish, and various vertebrates, as fish, birds and mammals.
Group II.—Animals detrimental to man’s welfare, attacking man himself; animals and plants of value to him, or the products derived therefrom—e.g., Protozoa, parasitic worms, mites, insects, and such vertebrates as certain birds and mammals.
Group III.—Animals aiding man’s welfare, as scavengers, or by pollinating flowers, or by attacking and checking such animals as are included in Group II.—e.g., Protozoa, parasitic worms, earthworms, parasitic insects, spiders, and such vertebrates as certain birds and mammals.
An analysis of the above classification shows that animals both aid and hinder the progress of man, hence the use of the terms “beneficial” and “destructive.” In nature, however, these terms are not altogether applicable in the same sense, since the balance maintained between animals and plants under natural conditions is an extremely fluctuating one, though sufficient for natural purposes; with man, however, the case is different. In order to compete in the world’s markets, and to supply the growing demands of increasing population, a much higher and dependable standard of productivity is required than is found in nature. Consequently, whilst utilising, and increasing the efficiency of the so-called natural enemies as auxiliaries in his fight against destructive animals, man has found it necessary to develop an effective system of artificial control, involving chemicals, resistant plants, cultivation, crop rotation, etc., for the purpose of maintaining a more stringent balance to meet his requirements.
Historical Review of New Zealand Conditions.
The animal population of European New Zealand is very different from that of pre-European times, a position brought about naturally enough by the changes resulting from agricultural development as practised in the Old World, and the consequent creation of an environment foreign to the country.
Though the official date of the settlement of New Zealand by Europeans is 1840, the influences, inaugurating that upheaval of the natural conditions which was later to have such a marked effect on the economic development of the country, had commenced many years earlier.
