RED DEER IN NEW ZEALAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1353, 28 September 1886, Page 2

RED DEER IN NEW ZEALAND.

It, is now settled beyond a doubt that •b« “ red drer” is ncc’imat'sed in New Z island Several have been seen in the dhtricta on tho herders of Welu. t n and Ha wke’e Bay, The ranger ,f the Wa rirspa Acclimatisation Society g'vea the f dlowieg account of th.se intons'tug nnimi’s : -They are the progeny of a s‘ag an! tw > hinds, origin illy asm ut by the la : n Prince O msort to iovernor VVold. who presented them to he la‘o Dr Featherstono, then Superintendent or the Province of Wellingt -r. They w. re liberated on flio property of MrC, R. Carter, Eiat Taratshi, but the country apparently not suiting them, they did not stay. Subsequently crossing the Ruamnhinga river, thev took up their ab >do on the Maungariki range and the adjacent country, which is evidently suited for them, as they have m'de it th dr headquarters ever since. Tho hills a*e of limestone formation, and the bush of au open character, the sullies bring full of native fusehii, i f which thay are vary fond. It constitutes tbeir principal f >od in the spring and summer months, while In the white* they feed on koroaaiko and ether shrubs Th'y do not ap patently care muh for gra s. During tho last five or six years they have increased in considerable numoerr, and are now firmly established in this part of tllD country. They ha m net spread at all to the north, nor yet towards the co;st on eist of the Wainui-o-rua river, and are virtually confined between the Huunahunga River from Hurnnai a-ringi on the west, and the Wainui-o-rua and Pahana on the east. There are considerable numbers on Te Wdti and Whi a Rock run. The ranger recommends the shooting season for tho “red de°r” to bi from January to April, and that a “heavy penalty” should be it Aided for shooting in tho close time.