Moose may be in Fiordland

Press, 2 April 1987, Page 18

Moose may be in Fiordland

PA Wellington Droppings found at Dusky Sound last month will go to the Smithsonian Institution in the United States to find out if they were left by a moose.

The executive director of the Deerstalkers’ association, Mr Shelby Grant, said his association would collect examples of droppings from deer, wapiti and hybrids to send over with the possible moose droppings. An earlier plan to have the find examined at the Ministry of Agriculture’s research centre at Invermay was changed after centre staff advised Mr Grant to send the droppings overseas. Comparisons with the Canadian elk would make for a more definite examination, Mr Grant said.

An American scientist

returning to the Smithsonian Institution from Invermay was expected to carry the droppings with him in early May, provided import, documents could be arranged in time.

Results are expected in early July. Moose were imported to New Zealand from Canada early this century. The last recorded shooting was in 1952, but sightings have been reported as recently as 1978. If the find proved to be moose; the Deerstalkers’ Association would negotiate with the Conservation Department to place a moratorium on hunting and perhaps enter the area to make thorough research, Mr Grant said. The precise area of Dusky Sound where the droppings were found had not been made public.