§ Mr. JOELasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the reason for the policy 940W of poisoning the game, to reduce their numbers, adopted by the administration of Swaziland?
Mr. THOMASThe grounds for this proposal, which was intended to be an experiment, and confined in the first instance to a small area and a period of one month, were the extensive loss and damage caused to farmers by the presence of large herds of wildebeeste, the spread of disease amongst cattle by these animals and the failure of attempts to reduce their numbers by other ways. It is not as yet known whether the experiment was in fact put into operation, but in any case instructions were issued on 12th October last that it should be suspended, and it is understood that the local authorities are considering an alternative method of dealing with the problem.