Natural History in the Back Yard

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 921, 5 April 1957, Page 6

Natural History in the Back Yard

"THE attractive creature on our cover *" this week is Wanda, the only pet wapiti in New Zealand, whose story is told by Jim Henderson in the This is New Zealand series on Wednesday, April 10, from all ZBs at 7.30 p.m. We mentioned Wanda a few weeks ago when describing a programme about her parents’ stamping grounds, Wapiti Country; and as a result a friend of her owner came to see us with photographic evidence of how she was thriving in Nelson’s sunshine. Besides Wanda, her owner, Newton McConochie, of Glenhope, Nelson, now also has a pet red deer (seen in the photograph here); so quite apart from the sheep and the cattle on Glenhope it has some other good claims to the term "mixed farm." Mr McConochie, a well-known stalker and past President of the New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association, belongs to the generation that saw deer liberated in this country. On his own property in Nelson that backs on to the Mount Owen range of the Buller District, he saw the original build-up of the red deer herds. The young red deer illustrated on this page is the first pet of that species he has had, but apparently having acquired Wanda, he felt obliged to provide her with congenial company. At an age when most men like to. relax, Mr McConochie is still an active stalker; but now during his trips into remote regions like Fiordland the emphasis is more on natural history, the study of birds and animals and the country itself, than on the acquisition of trophies. Wanda has settled down well with her owner, and judging by her expression when photographed, is well content with the Nelson grass. She will never have

to worry (like her relations) about snow driving her down to miserable half-star-vation in the inhospitable valleys of Fiordland. Natural History Indoors USEUMS are not concerned with the problems of live exhibits like Wanda, but the old idea that they are

given over to dull dead exhibits shown in a gloomy atmosphere is fast disappearing. Today, there is a much livelier public interest in museumis as entertaining, instructive and _ colourful places. , While Crosbie Morrison was in Dunedin for the A.N.Z.AA. Ss. ss he --~ ----

took part (in his capacity as a trustee of the Melbourne Museum) in a discussion on the role of the modern museum. Later Mr Morrison, with Dr Gilbert Archey, Director of the Auckland Museum, and Dr Roger Duff, Director of the Canterbury Museum, recorded a similar discussion for the NZBS at 4YA. What should museums do and not do? Should they function primarily in the field of research? To what extent can museum displays be made entertaining as well as informative? What can the public-which, in the main, supports them-expect from museums? These are some of the questions covered in The Role of Museums Today, which will be heard from 4YC and 4YZ at 8.0 p.m.. on Tuesday, April 9. New Crosbie Morrison Series (CROSBIE MORRISON is to be heard later in the week also in the first of a series of talks on Wild Life in New Zealand. This is a new departure for Mr Morrison, who has in the past worked from Australia, coping with questions that relate to this country more on an academic than on a practical basis. These talks will originate from studies made, after the Science Conference ended in Dunedin, on a tour with notebook and camera to most of the well-known conservation areas in New Zealand. Mount Cook, Fiordland, Tongariro and Egmont National Parks were among the regions visited, and Mr Morrison followed his specific interest in bird life to seabird sanctuaries on the Otago Peninsula, and to Kapiti Island, off the Wellington coast, which he visited with Dr R. A. Falla, of the Dominion Museum. Wild Life in New Zealand begins on Sunday, April 14, from YAs, 3YZ and 4YZ at 1.30 p.m.