INTRODUCTION OF DEER

Taranaki Daily News, 19 July 1933, Page 7

INTRODUCTION OF DEER

EARLY NELSON ATTEMPTS. FIRST ARRIVALS IN 1851. Nelson, July 12. The question of alleged damage done by deer to New Zealand bush is dealt With in a statement by Mr. W. Andrews, secretary of the Nelson Acclimatisation Society. He denies that deer are a menace to the bush, but states that in any case deer were not introduced in the first place by acclimatisation societies. He gives an interesting account of the establishment of defer in the South Island. “The first deer to arrive, in New Zealand,” he said, “were landed at Nelson in 1851. Lord Petrie, of Thorndon Hall, Essex, sent out three—one stag and two hinds—as a present to the settlement of Nelson, his brother, the Hon. H. W. Petrie, being then a resident of Nelson. The deer were liberated in the Maitai Valley, but soon after one was shot. “The Prince Consort, hearing of the result of the venture, caused a stag and two hinds to be sent to Nelson from his herd at the Royal Park, Richmond. Unfortunately, only the stag survived the voyage. Knowing of the failure so far attending the shipments, Lord Petrie sent out another lot of one stag and two hinds, which were landed all right and were liberated, and from those deer have sprung the herds of Nelson, Marlborough and North Canterbury. The acclimatisation .societies were not in existence until years after these dates. “The Prince Consort presented the settlement of Wellington with a stag and two hinds, which arrived in New Zealand in 1868. In 1870 the Earl of Dalhousie presented to the Otago settlement from his herd 17 red deer cajves, most of which landed at Port Chalmers and were liberated in that portion of New Zealand.” , ,