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Otago Daily Times
30-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Moose ‘most likely' a deer, Doc says
Pics or it didn't happen. After two separate "moose" sightings in Fiordland by North American visitors in a matter of weeks, the Department of Conservation (Doc) said yesterday until there was photographic evidence to the contrary Doc would continue to hold the view there were no descendants of the moose released in Dusky Sound in 1910 left alive in the wild. American visitors Norbert Nigon and Virginia Schuning said they saw a moose — the largest member of the deer family — on the track in the middle of March. Then, only several weeks later, Canadians Annie-Pier Bourgeois, Antoine Beauchamp and Chanel Sabourin-Dubois said they saw one on March 29. However, in neither case did the visitors take photographs of the animals they came across while on the Kepler Track last month. Doc Te Anau operations manager John Lucas said the second report of a possible moose sighting was received by Doc on April 1. "Once we verified it wasn't an April Fool's Day prank, we passed the information on to [longtime New Zealand moose researcher] Ken Tustin to follow up. "Like others, whilst we are interested in this latest moose sighting, until we receive photographic proof to the contrary, we continue to take the view that we are most likely dealing with a deer, such as a red deer or possibly a red-wapiti cross that has been mistaken for a moose." Moose were released in Dusky Sound in 1910, but it was believed they were now extinct in Fiordland, he said. Many Otago Daily Times readers suggested the visitors were seeking attention, or "dreaming or smoking". While there are no known moose living in New Zealand, Canadian charity Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society said there are about 1 million moose living in North America. Nevertheless, Mr Tustin said he was encouraged by the reports of moose in Fiordland and he encouraged anyone who believed they had seen a moose to come forward. The most telling aspects of both recent reports came in the description of the animal's colouring as it disappeared into the bush. "Unlike red deer or elk, which display a distinctive pale rump patch easily visible when they flee, moose do not. "Both sightings described animals with a uniform dark brown colour as it turned, with no mention of a white rump — a subtle but critical detail that strongly supports moose identification over other large species found in Fiordland," he said.
Otago Daily Times
28-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Canadian hikers claim to spot moose in South Island
Three Canadian hikers say they saw what they believe to be a moose as they completed the Kepler Track in Fiordland last month. It is the second such report in March after American visitors Norbert Nigon and Virginia Schuning said they saw one on the track two weeks earlier. Annie-Pier Bourgeois, Antoine Beauchamp and Chanel Sabourin-Dubois were on their third day on the track, on March 29, on the final stretch before returning to the carpark when they came across a large animal near the bank of the Iris Burn River. Mr Beauchamp said the noise they were making scared the animal into the bush, but they decided to cross the track and look for it. "That's when we had a good look at him, and our very first instinct was to say, 'Oh my God, that's a moose.' "But we didn't think you had those here, so we tried to rationalise it and think maybe, oh, maybe it's, I don't know, something else." The trio, from Quebec, had seen moose in the wild at home. It was not a deer, nor a caribou, which they might also see at home — and this animal was "very, very tall", he said. It was a five-hour walk back to the carpark. When they arrived, they boarded a shuttle to bring them back to Te Anau and Mr Beauchamp said the driver "jokingly" asked if they had seen a moose. "That's when we told her that yes, indeed, we saw a moose, and at first she didn't, like she thought we were getting in on the joke and everything but we didn't understand why it was something so interesting." The driver asked a lot of questions. "It's so funny, the moose thing here. I really didn't know it was a thing before hearing about it." Moose from Canada were released in Fiordland in 1910 in the hopes of establishing a herd to hunt, but despite some occasional reports of a sighting, no official documentation exists, and Department of Conservation (Doc) Te Anau operations manager John Lucas said last month Doc believed they were most likely extinct in Fiordland. Mr Beauchamp said he had not reported his sighting to Doc. However, longtime New Zealand moose researcher Ken Tustin was buoyed by the second detailed account. He said the Canadians' report coming so soon after the American report of a moose on March 13 was "an extraordinary coincidence". He believed a remnant moose population existed today.
