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Elk from Canada flourish Inmountains of New ZealandIn the wild Fiordland of southern New Zealand, fleet-footed wapiti have found a home even more inaccessible to hunters than their native Canadian Rockies. In this remote area* the wapiti, sometimes called American elk, grow to a site approaching that of a moose.•ar-roIt» HFiordland is the only place out* site the Rockies where wapiti can be shot It is claimed In New Zealand that the best heads taken excel the finest shot in Canada.So that Canadian sportsmen may dispute the •'Claim If they wish. New Zealand wapiti hunters report that they are bagging heads with 17 and 18-point antlers. The length of some exceeds 60 inches and the greatest spread has also been more than 60 inches.every side. Severe atoms arise without warning and rivers may rise to 12 to 16 feet In a few hours.b.a-ofn-inSome bulls grow to almost the size of the lighter types of moose Mature specimens have been shot weighing 900 pounds.The reason the wapiti grow so big is probably because the climate is particularly suited to them. Also, although shooting is permitted the difficulties of penetrating the region are so great that only the hardiest hunters can make the trip and even then their skill must be high to bag a wapiti.The animals live in a dew hundred square miles of the vast Fiordland National Park. They inhabit the region between Lake Te Anau and the fiords of the west coast, one of the wildest areas in the world.ait,3l:e-n-KksThe valleys are filled with dense forest choked with trailing vines. The mountains rise sheer and rugged in an incredible maze of tangled, broken ranges.Traps for the unwary lurk onPrecipices drop thousands of feet and an innocent-looking stream may suddenly plunge hundreds of feet into a ravine. Thera are stretches of. treacherous bog and in 'some places it takes hours to cover a few hundred yards.Torrential rainfall makes ths area one of the wettest places In the world. The annual fall is as high as 300 inches.But to the hunter prepared to rough it, Fiordland offers fins sport. On fine days the scenery is of breathtaking grandeur; a fit* ting setting for some of the world’s stalking.Fiordland also contains In another region the only herds of ihoose in the southern hemisphere and they too provide splendid sport.The wapiti area has been divided into 12 shooting blocks, balloted r each year by the government. The nine-week stalking season extends from March to May. Hunters travel to the outskirts of their blocks by launch or amphibian aircraft, but after that they are on their own. There are no inhibitanta and the hunters must take all they need with them.Farmers tourr-Jl.ern-m-:orto Europetoin.ises.ta-ierDf-ms11* B OfFor the first time since the end of the war, a group of farmers from Western Canada will visit Europe. A different kind of Canadian Embassy, the group will visit Europe's principal farm countries —England, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium and Holland—not only to see the way of life of the European Mr. Farmer, his organizations, his co-operatives, his experimental stations, breeding farms, agricultural exhibitions, farm and dairy shows and some of Europe’s largest agricultural machinery factories, but atThe wapiti have lived in Fiordland for nearly 60 years. An Englishman, George Littiedle, considered it would be an ideal place to release them. He was a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States and with his assistance three young bulls and seven cows were sent for /eleam in the George sound area. Tea more wapiti were sent some years later. The first animals were shot in *923.Today they are thriving, but still have not spread throughout the whole of Fiordland because of the difficulty of moving from oito part to another. Some herds have sprung from animals which strayed ffito valleys and were unable to leave so that their decend* ants are confined in these valleys for ever,
Newspaper Details
Springfield Leader
Springfield, Manitoba, CA
Tue, Aug 24, 1954
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Kevin S.
CA 13 Nov 2020
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