Moose Facts

E.J. Herrick,Seaforth Valley 1929

10 young moose from Canada

were released at Supper Cove, Dusky Sound, Fiordland in April 1910. Moose were to be the grandest of the big game animals introduced into New Zealand, but an earlier attempt to establish moose near Hokitika in 1900 had failed. The Government and Tourist Department of the day hoped they would form the genesis of a future sporting resource. Their successful transfer to southern latitudes was heralded as a triumph at the time.
The moose established under legal protection, administered by the Southland Acclimatization Society.

Monitoring the status of the moose herd in such a remote and difficult environment has never been easy, but some early surveys suggested they were flourishing enough that by the mid-1920s limited licensed hunting took place for a few years. Only two trophies were taken under license, both by Hawkes Bay sportsman Eddie Herrick, the first in the Seaforth Valley in 1929, and another in (now) Herrick Creek in 1934.
After 1934 protection was removed and records become sparse. Many people believed that moose had ceased to exist. During the late 1920s red deer had spread into the area, rapidly increased and forest conditions significantly deteriorated, to the point where red deer populations crashed of their own accord.
Moose sprang back into the limelight in the early 1950s, when some well-documented and, as it turned out, controversial, accounts recorded the shooting of a cow moose in 1951 by Robin Francis Smith in the (now) Henry Burn and another by Jim Mackintosh four months later in Herrick Creek. In April 1952 Percy Lyes shot a trophy bull in Herrick Creek and his two colleagues, Max Curtis and Robin Francis Smith, both took photos of live moose. After the 1950s moose news lapsed again and there was a general presumption that they had become extinct.

J. Mackintosh. Herrick Ck 1951	R.V.Francis Smith. Henry Burn. 1951	P.J.Lyes. Herrick Ck 1952

However, occasional rumours continued to surface about moose survival. In 1971 one rippled around Te Anau that a local venison meat-hunter had shot a bull in the western sounds. Although the shooting was never substantiated he told a Southland Times reporter he had seen a cow and calf. Despite being widely disbelieved local interest was so high it led to an "official" investigation by Forest Research Institute. Early in 1972 Ken Tustin led a survey within the Dusky Sound-Wet Jacket Arm areas, islands and tributaries. At the end of the 70-day search the report concluded that field sign (including a recently cast antler) indicated moose existed in small numbers but faced almost certain extinction due to competition for food from red deer. However, no

M Curtis. Herrick Creek. 1952

moose were sighted during the survey and moose presence was not generally accepted.

The years 1970-1985 were hugely significant for Fiordland forest and its wildlife inhabitants. Helicopter hunting for red deer took place, firstly for venison then with intensifying into live-deer capture. Deer populations were decimated. As a result, dramatic forest rehabilitation took place.
When Ken and Marg Tustin revisited Wet Jacket Arm in 1992, finding both a restored forest and evidence of moose survival, the present project was born. Natural History (NZ) wildlife documentary filmmakers took an interest, resulting in self-triggering cameras being used in an attempt to photograph a moose. An audience of nearly 600,000 viewed "A Wild Moose Chase" when it screened in June 1998, and Ken Tustin's book with the same title was released at the same time.
Significantly, in April 2000 two hunters, Kelvin and Charlie Harper, recognized moose sign and recovered snagged hair which AgResearch scientists Dr Mike Tait and Jamie Ward subjected to DNA profiling, confirming the specimen as having come from a moose.
Nonetheless, the fact that moose presence is still unacknowledged in most wildlife and National Park literature, school curriculae, government policy and public sentiment indicates that most New Zealanders remain unconvinced of their existence.
NZWT continues its moose study, helped by the input of a number of interested and involved hunters, scientists, businesspeople, pilots and others in unraveling what is truly one of the most intriguing tales of modern New Zealand. How about you?