Are there moose loose aboot the hoose?
John Bristed
A (nearly) Complete History of the Moose in New Zealand by Ken Tustin, Halcyon Press, reviewed by John Bristed.
IT’S a hundred years since the immigrants: ten crated pony sized immature moose were unloaded off the Government steamer Hinemoa at Supper Cove in Fiordland.
They were New Zealand’s first, imported from Canada as potential very large game animals - ‘there is nothing more delicious than a moose steak’ reported enthusiastic Canadians.
Ken Tustin has had a fascination for those beasts and their descendents since he did a survey on them for the Forest Research Institute forty years ago.
Unlike English red deer and Himalayan thar, also imported as game animals, the moose didn’t thrive in Fiordland’s unforgiving climate, although they were protected until the 1930s, possibly because the booming red deer population ate their food source.
They bred, but not well, although they were recorded as stripping the bark off trees as high as 12 feet (3.5m) above the ground, and it’s unlikely that more than 25 were ever shot as game.
Many people have believed the animals died out a long time ago. However there have always been stories the the moose population is not dead, and that some of the secretive animals survive in the pretty much uninhabited jungle that is our biggest national park, especially since helicopter hunting decimated the deer population.
Tustin has found at least 60 records of moose sightings since 1950, and the latest, hair samples confirmed by their dna as from moose in 2005.
He records all that, but more; he combines it with fascinating tales and numerous photos of and by those who met them – lighthouse keepers, fishermen, pilots, hunters, and many more.
Lots is hearsay, but it seems safe to say that nobody else is going to go the enormous efforts the author has made to find everything possible about these elusive animals.
Are there still moose in Fiordland? It’s nice to think so. Better read the book and make up your own mind.
IT’S a hundred years since the immigrants: ten crated pony sized immature moose were unloaded off the Government steamer Hinemoa at Supper Cove in Fiordland.
They were New Zealand’s first, imported from Canada as potential very large game animals - ‘there is nothing more delicious than a moose steak’ reported enthusiastic Canadians.
Ken Tustin has had a fascination for those beasts and their descendents since he did a survey on them for the Forest Research Institute forty years ago.
Unlike English red deer and Himalayan thar, also imported as game animals, the moose didn’t thrive in Fiordland’s unforgiving climate, although they were protected until the 1930s, possibly because the booming red deer population ate their food source.
They bred, but not well, although they were recorded as stripping the bark off trees as high as 12 feet (3.5m) above the ground, and it’s unlikely that more than 25 were ever shot as game.
Many people have believed the animals died out a long time ago. However there have always been stories the the moose population is not dead, and that some of the secretive animals survive in the pretty much uninhabited jungle that is our biggest national park, especially since helicopter hunting decimated the deer population.
Tustin has found at least 60 records of moose sightings since 1950, and the latest, hair samples confirmed by their dna as from moose in 2005.
He records all that, but more; he combines it with fascinating tales and numerous photos of and by those who met them – lighthouse keepers, fishermen, pilots, hunters, and many more.
Lots is hearsay, but it seems safe to say that nobody else is going to go the enormous efforts the author has made to find everything possible about these elusive animals.
Are there still moose in Fiordland? It’s nice to think so. Better read the book and make up your own mind.
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