ANIMALS INTRODUCED FOR SAKE OF UTILITY 255 



1832 (see p. 287), but their importation and that of the 

 Wapiti were measures of amenity rather than of utility. 



DESTRUCTIVENESS OF INTRODUCTIONS 



It is strange with what persistence Nature has mocked 

 man's efforts to introduce new creatures in any country for 

 the sake of their usefulness, domestic animals apart. I have 

 already alluded to the unfortunate results of the introduction 





Fig. 48. Little Owl an introduction to Britain which has become a nuisance, f nat. size. 



of Hares and Rabbits to Australia, and the equally disastrous 

 effects which followed upon the setting free of Foxes and the 

 escape of Dogs. In New Zealand a somewhat similar series 

 of disasters met man's efforts. Introduced Rabbits multiplied 

 and became a pest which cleared the ground of cultivated 

 crops. Ferrets, Stoats and Weasels were released to destroy 

 them, and themselves attacked the native fauna and the 

 flocks of sheep. In New Zealand, as in Australia and 

 America, the common House Sparrow has been set free 

 to destroy the hosts of insect pests brought into existence 

 by cultivation; but in all these countries, the Sparrow 



