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ONE
interesting feature of New Zealand's
forests is the fact that they developed for thousands of years free from
the interference of man and the ravages of browsing animals. This natural
order ended when the country became inhabited and when animals were
introduced. To augment the meagre diet of the Maoris, Cook brought out pigs
which, roaming at will in the hilly districts, rapidly increased. In the
years which followed it seemed as if New Zealanders could not leave well
alone. Pigs, goats, deer, rabbits, and
opossums were introduced and soon became acclimatised. When it was
decided to release deer for sporting purposes,
a deadly enemy entered the forests. In 1851 red deer were
liberated in Nelson, and a few years later both red and fallow deer had
become plentiful in the Wairarapa and in Otago and Southland. In an effort
to make New Zealand a paradise for
big-game hunters, moose and wapiti were later released in the
mountainous districts of western Otago and Southland. It was soon evident
that these animals took more than kindly to their new homes. Having anabundant
food supply and no natural enemies fear, they multiplied rapidly in
districts where stalker could enter only with difficulty, and soon became
such a menace that in some districts the very existence of the forests was
endangered, day it is easy to see
evidences of their depredation They feed greedily on the fern and
shrubs, moss and undergrowth that form the forest floor; trample it with
miles of tracks; they eat tender
saplings, destroy many plants which provide honey and berries for the
native birds, and tear off the bark of
trees for food. In the high country, above the bush line, the deer
are still destructive, for there they feed upon the alpine plants, the
removal of which hastens the
process of mountain-slope I
erosion. That pigs, chamois, goats, and particularly the deer are
inveterate enemies of our forests, the Government fully realises. For some
years Government hunters have been at work reducing the size of herds, and
although their extermination is an
impossibility, the safety of the mountain forests cannot be assured
until the deer menace has been
completely mastered.
A deer stalker in Westland. Since the Government has
organised deer control, stalking by private parties has been discouraged in
certain areas. |
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Pig-hunting on the West Coast goldfields. The wood engraving
was taken from ' The Illustrated New Zealand Herald' (1868) which described
the sketch thus: 'The hardy
settlers, or rather diggers of our West Coast have joined this pastime, and
there is every probability while so engaged many of them have discovered
fresh auriferous ground
A magnificent spread of branches in a
Taranaki forest.
Title Goes Here
A stag in the alpine meadowland of the
Whitcombe Valley, Westland. |
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