WarPo New Zealand/Aotearoa: Canadian Moose... In the Shadowlands?

Fiordland, the southwest corner of the South Island sticks out into the Southern Ocean toward Antarctica. It is a World Heritage Site and one of the most famous and frequently photographed portions of New Zealand. It is a huge tract of land similar to the Canadian Rockies in size. But other than one small town, Te Anau, and a couple of famous fiords and treks, where tourists come and go, there are very few people in this remote part of the world. In particular, in the southwestern part of the area, there are almost no human beings as it is virtually inaccessible unless you want to bushwack and climb through intractable rainforest for more than a week. The only real imposition of humanity are the helicopters which can go anywhere, though there is still little reason to go here as it is off the major scenic flight routes.

Are their Canadian moose out there?

This vast wild area is called the “Shadowlands” because this is a rainforest (Milford Sound gets 7 metres of rain a year) of clouds, mist and rain, with the sun breaking though occasionally. It is here, in 1910, that the New Zealand government released 10 Canadian moose with the idea of creating a herd to hunt, and attracting visitors. At first they grew in numbers, possibly as high as a 100, but then the hunters moved in and killed lots. The last undeniable photograph of several moose comes from 1953, yet many are convinced they still exist, maybe only a few. Are they hiding in the Shadowlands? One man, a wildlife biologist, Ken Tustin, has made it his life’s passion to find a living moose, and he believes they indeed exist. Fur has been identified in 2002 and a couple of years ago tree browse was found that he says by the markings, could only be from a moose, not a deer. He twice yearly sets numbers of movement sensor cameras in remote locales with only helicopter access, hoping that the camera will be triggered by the movement of a moose. So far he has seen lots of deer and a few ambiguous photos that might be moose. Hmmm. There are two movies tackling the mystery, one by Ken, and another that we saw in Fiordland by two young film makers. The verdict… Ginny thinks there are still moose, Alan is not so sure. Here’s some photos of our spectacular trip to the edge of the Shadowlands on the Kepler Track.