The elusive moose

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34104, 17 March 1976, Page 20

The elusive moose

Four years ago a Forest Service expedition brought back from the Dusky Sound area of Fiordland evidence suggesting that a small herd of moose still survived in this remote part of New Zealand. A larger expedition, mounted by the Deerstalkers’ Association, has found similar evidence—tracks: fresh droppings, and branches broken and stripped in a manner not associated with red deer. But still no moose on the hoof. And without more precise evidence about the numbers of moose and their manner of feeding the National Parks Authority will be reluctant to remove them from the list of noxious animals. The shy, solitary moose, largest of all dder, is said to be a browsing animal rather than a grazer and to cause much less damage to vegetation than other introduced animals. However, that a small herd of moose exists, and should be permitted to remain undisturbed in Fiordland, remains to be proved.

On the face of it. the idea that the moose are, indeed, established here and that they may remain is an attractive one. If they exist, the moose are the only wild herd in the Southern Hemisphere. The claim that they form a triumph for acclimatisation is rather thin; nothing has been done for the moose —except to shoot a handful of them—since they were turned loose in 1910. None has been sighted for certain since 1952. and the splendid size and somewhat bizarre appearance of the moose should be arguments in favour of protecting them from trophy hunters. The fact that none have been found in recent years is probably protection enough. But if a herd is discovered, and not considered to be a jnenace to the forests, the hunters should be kept away. Fiordland is generally more formidable than the habitat of the moose in the Northern Hemisphere. The smaller deer breed much more quickly than moose and a small, struggling herd of moose should not carry 7 the blame for the depredations of other deer which are numerous. New Zealand's experience with introduced wild animals has been unfortunate: moose might yet turn out to be a grand and inoffensive exception.