Wild Sheep May Help Campbell Island Study

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32378, 18 August 1970, Page 14

Wild Sheep May Help Campbell Island Study

Wild sheep on Campbell Island, 300 miles south of Stewart Island, have posed a threat to the island’s natural flora and fauna, but a programme to eradicate the sheep may yield important scientific information. Last January and February a scientific expedition fenced off the northern half of the Island and destroyed about 1200 sheep in that section About 2000 sheep remain in the more rugged southern half of the island.

The expedition comprised representatives of the Lands

and Survey Department, the Department of Internal Affairs, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the University of Canterbury. In its annual report the Department of Lands and Survey says the expedition was the first step in a programme to eradicate as many animals as possible from the island. At the same time, the programme is helping the study of the island’s ecology and providing informatton for agricultural research. Future expeditions will compare the vegetation in the two halves of the island and also study the development and adaptation of sheep in sub-Antarctic conditions. Up to 1927 Campbell Island was leased for farming and some sheep and cattle have survived in a wild state. Recently the sheep have been increasing in number and the island’s vegetation has been threatened. Most of the island’s 44 square miles is now covered with tussock. Herbaceous plants, which were once varied and abundant there, have largely been eaten out by the sheep.